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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 22: If Delhi government goes ahead with its plan of compulsory HIV tests on women and children in shelter homes in the Capital, it would be violating both national and international policies on the subject say experts.
While National AIDS Control Organisation director J.V.R. Prasada Rao stated recently that the Social Welfare Ministry’s move is contrary to the national policy, UNAIDS has said that compulsory tests whether on kids or adults are a violation of human rights.
UNAIDS chief in India Alexander Gordon told Express Newsline on Friday: “Tests are not in the interest of prevention of AIDS as it is no use knowing just a handful of cases in a country where the numbers may be quite high. It will only create an atmosphere of fear in an environment where HIV patients are stigmatised and ostracised.”
He said there was a slender chance of infection between inmates of a shelter home. If the government is really concerned about them it could provide education on sexual health, Gordon added.
“HIV tests are not 100 per cent accurate,” he said. “At least three tests are needed for accurate results. The first round may even show a non-infected person as HIV-positive and vice versa,” he said.
NGOs have also protested against the move of the Delhi Social Welfare Ministry to have an HIV test drill in shelter homes for women and children.
Protesting against the move by the Social Welfare Ministry, Joint Action Council Kannur, an NGO, said that if the government is really interested in controlling the spread of HIV, it should educate or counsel people on how to avoid risk behaviour. HIV tests alone are enough to stigmatise the tested people, it said in a statement here.
If the ministry fears spread of infection through inmates of shelter homes, it is equivalent to admitting the possible sexual exploitation of the inmates, it said. Joint Women’s Programme, another NGO here, said that no cure has been discovered for AIDS and hence testing people for it is as good as ostracizing them. It called for a suitable rehabilitation package before any tests are done.
