National Conference on HIV/AIDS
A two-day National Conference on HIV/AIDS which included participants from all over the country, was organized by the Commission in association with UNAIDS, UNICEF, NACO and Lawyers Collective. It was held in New Delhi on 24-25 November 2000.
At the inaugural session, J.S. Verma called for steps to ensure that there was no further spread of the infection and also to ensure that drugs were readily available to the affected. He observed that it was, primarily, the responsibility of the State to involve the entire community in the effort to generate an awareness of the need to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS; it was also the responsibility of the State to ensure the provision of required medical care to look after them who were affected. The State had the means and it was also its duty to mobilize the community. Every patient should be able to get treatment whether he or she could afford it or not. Further, regarding the manufacturing of the needed drugs, the Chairperson pointed out that a suitable and timely solution should be found out so that the TRIPS provisions do not result in pushing up the prices of these drugs.
Justice Verma emphasized that the priority of all concerned should be the survival of the affected persons in a manner that respected their dignity and human rights. He stated that manpower and will power would both be needed to mobilize an appropriate network including non-governmental organizations, to successfully take on the Herculean task of combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. Speaking of the infected person’s right to marry, the Chairperson said that though the individual’s rights were sacrosanct, but in a society these rights had to be harmonized with the larger rights of society. The right to marry should be exercised without violating somebody else’s right and that too only with informed consent. He added that merely denying the right to marry would not necessarily ensure that a person would not spread the disease.
The Chairperson said that during the Millennium Summit held recently at UN Headquarters, world leaders had resolved to reverse the spread of the disease and had called upon pharmaceutical companies all over the world to make drugs affordable and widely available, especially in the developing countries which have almost 90 per cent of the total number of affected persons in the world. Health is a significant human rights issue. Only co-operative effort will be able to make a difference. The disease had to be arrested at whatever stage it had reached, and the affected had to be treated with dignity.
Speaking of medical personnel who treat patients infected with HIV/AIDS, the Chairperson stated that care should be taken to ensure their protection as well. He was of the opinion that when faced with a resource crunch, it was essential to get priorities right. Protecting the right to life and providing means for self-preservation, he observed, was an essential obligation of the State, which must provide proper medicare and ensure that it is available to all.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Arun Jaitely, Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs said that though health care was a responsibility of the State, the standard of health care in the country left much to be desired. The Government should change its priorities and lay more stress on the development activities. Speaking on the issue of consent before testing for HIV/AIDS, he said that the debate between private rights versus larger public interest is something, which the conference and human rights organizations at large must look into. Maintaining the factum of confidentiality, with beneficial disclosure to persons who might be affected, was of utmost importance. He called upon media persons to spread health care education, as they had a powerful capacity to reach across the country.
The UN Resident Co-ordinator, Ms. Brenda Gael McSweeney said that early and courageous action would go a long way to stop an epidemic of mega proportion. "We need to break the silence and need to talk about HIV at every level".
Shri Javed Ahmed Choudhury, Secretary, Ministry of Health said that the HIV/AIDS situation in the country needed to be faced squarely, without imposing a stigma or ostracism on those affected. It was essential to strike a balance between individual human rights and community rights.
In the two-day Conference, participants discussed and deliberated upon: Global Trends of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic – Social and Human Rights Implications; HIV/AIDS Epidemic in India – The Community Response; Public Health within a Human Rights Framework, with special reference to HIV/AIDS; Consent and Testing; Confidentiality; Discrimination–Health Care; Discrimination–Employment; Vulnerability, HIV/AIDS and Human Rights; Women in Vulnerable Environments; Children and Young People; People Infected/Affected; Vulnerability of Marginalised Populations and Strategies for Creating an Enabling Environment and its Implementation. The final session of the Conference recorded the Feedback and Recommendations for a Plan of Action relating to Human Rights and HIV/AIDS in India.
Dr. C.P. Thakur, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, who was the Chief Guest of the valedictory session, said that the Government was strongly committed to carrying forward the efforts to control HIV/AIDS in the country and to create an environment that reduced denial, stigma and discrimination and protected the human rights of all those affected. The Government planned to start a new public education campaign next year. Speaking about mandatory testing, the Minister said that the National Policy clearly prohibits such testing for HIV/AIDS. However, in the context of protection of human rights, it was important that partners should be notified, especially in India, where wives were often the innocent victims of infection. Regarding the issue of access to anti-retroviral drugs, he said that the Government was examining the issue of reduction of prices of such drugs within the overall framework of the WTO and Intellectual Property Regime. The Government had been looking into the issue of compulsory licensing of such drugs for indigenous drug manufacturing. The providing of drugs to prevent mother to child transmission had also been included in the Government’s National Programme. The National Programme had, further, established facilities for telephone counseling in over 35 cities and towns in the country; this had helped hundreds of callers in seeking information and counseling, with complete protection of their privacy.
Giving his concluding remarks, the Chairperson emphasized that community involvement was essential to ensure heightened awareness and education about this issue, to ensure proper medicare and access to drugs, and to highlight that the dignity of a human being is his entitlement whether he is HIV positive or not. "HIV/AIDS is not merely a health issue – it raises legal and ethical issues as well. What is needed is to treat it as a rights issue, as this would lead to a rise in accountability of everyone".
At the inaugural session, J.S. Verma called for steps to ensure that there was no further spread of the infection and also to ensure that drugs were readily available to the affected. He observed that it was, primarily, the responsibility of the State to involve the entire community in the effort to generate an awareness of the need to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS; it was also the responsibility of the State to ensure the provision of required medical care to look after them who were affected. The State had the means and it was also its duty to mobilize the community. Every patient should be able to get treatment whether he or she could afford it or not. Further, regarding the manufacturing of the needed drugs, the Chairperson pointed out that a suitable and timely solution should be found out so that the TRIPS provisions do not result in pushing up the prices of these drugs.
Justice Verma emphasized that the priority of all concerned should be the survival of the affected persons in a manner that respected their dignity and human rights. He stated that manpower and will power would both be needed to mobilize an appropriate network including non-governmental organizations, to successfully take on the Herculean task of combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. Speaking of the infected person’s right to marry, the Chairperson said that though the individual’s rights were sacrosanct, but in a society these rights had to be harmonized with the larger rights of society. The right to marry should be exercised without violating somebody else’s right and that too only with informed consent. He added that merely denying the right to marry would not necessarily ensure that a person would not spread the disease.
The Chairperson said that during the Millennium Summit held recently at UN Headquarters, world leaders had resolved to reverse the spread of the disease and had called upon pharmaceutical companies all over the world to make drugs affordable and widely available, especially in the developing countries which have almost 90 per cent of the total number of affected persons in the world. Health is a significant human rights issue. Only co-operative effort will be able to make a difference. The disease had to be arrested at whatever stage it had reached, and the affected had to be treated with dignity.
Speaking of medical personnel who treat patients infected with HIV/AIDS, the Chairperson stated that care should be taken to ensure their protection as well. He was of the opinion that when faced with a resource crunch, it was essential to get priorities right. Protecting the right to life and providing means for self-preservation, he observed, was an essential obligation of the State, which must provide proper medicare and ensure that it is available to all.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Arun Jaitely, Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs said that though health care was a responsibility of the State, the standard of health care in the country left much to be desired. The Government should change its priorities and lay more stress on the development activities. Speaking on the issue of consent before testing for HIV/AIDS, he said that the debate between private rights versus larger public interest is something, which the conference and human rights organizations at large must look into. Maintaining the factum of confidentiality, with beneficial disclosure to persons who might be affected, was of utmost importance. He called upon media persons to spread health care education, as they had a powerful capacity to reach across the country.
The UN Resident Co-ordinator, Ms. Brenda Gael McSweeney said that early and courageous action would go a long way to stop an epidemic of mega proportion. "We need to break the silence and need to talk about HIV at every level".
Shri Javed Ahmed Choudhury, Secretary, Ministry of Health said that the HIV/AIDS situation in the country needed to be faced squarely, without imposing a stigma or ostracism on those affected. It was essential to strike a balance between individual human rights and community rights.
In the two-day Conference, participants discussed and deliberated upon: Global Trends of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic – Social and Human Rights Implications; HIV/AIDS Epidemic in India – The Community Response; Public Health within a Human Rights Framework, with special reference to HIV/AIDS; Consent and Testing; Confidentiality; Discrimination–Health Care; Discrimination–Employment; Vulnerability, HIV/AIDS and Human Rights; Women in Vulnerable Environments; Children and Young People; People Infected/Affected; Vulnerability of Marginalised Populations and Strategies for Creating an Enabling Environment and its Implementation. The final session of the Conference recorded the Feedback and Recommendations for a Plan of Action relating to Human Rights and HIV/AIDS in India.
Dr. C.P. Thakur, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, who was the Chief Guest of the valedictory session, said that the Government was strongly committed to carrying forward the efforts to control HIV/AIDS in the country and to create an environment that reduced denial, stigma and discrimination and protected the human rights of all those affected. The Government planned to start a new public education campaign next year. Speaking about mandatory testing, the Minister said that the National Policy clearly prohibits such testing for HIV/AIDS. However, in the context of protection of human rights, it was important that partners should be notified, especially in India, where wives were often the innocent victims of infection. Regarding the issue of access to anti-retroviral drugs, he said that the Government was examining the issue of reduction of prices of such drugs within the overall framework of the WTO and Intellectual Property Regime. The Government had been looking into the issue of compulsory licensing of such drugs for indigenous drug manufacturing. The providing of drugs to prevent mother to child transmission had also been included in the Government’s National Programme. The National Programme had, further, established facilities for telephone counseling in over 35 cities and towns in the country; this had helped hundreds of callers in seeking information and counseling, with complete protection of their privacy.
Giving his concluding remarks, the Chairperson emphasized that community involvement was essential to ensure heightened awareness and education about this issue, to ensure proper medicare and access to drugs, and to highlight that the dignity of a human being is his entitlement whether he is HIV positive or not. "HIV/AIDS is not merely a health issue – it raises legal and ethical issues as well. What is needed is to treat it as a rights issue, as this would lead to a rise in accountability of everyone".