The battle against HIV/AIDS demands a combined, committed response if it is to be effectively confronted and surmounted. It no longer remains merely a health problem confined to a certain remote section of the world’s population, far-removed from one’s own reality. There is an urgent need to respond to and acknowledge ownership over the consequences of the pandemic.
At the Media Leaders’ Summit called by the Prime Minister of India on 6th January, 2005, media leaders signed a pledge to use their collective communications, expertise and resources to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, recognizing that it threatens the health, security and economic well-being of the citizens of the country. The leaders resolved to work together on coordinated national response to expand public knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS. Dr. Manmohan Singh called upon the media to be actively involved, saying: “We must leave no stone unturned in preventing HIV/AIDS occurrence by using the media in an intelligent and creative manner”.
In what could hopefully inspire a collective response at the state level, an Advocacy Workshop for media, NGOs and other agencies on HIV/AIDS was held at the Raj Bhavan at Kohima in April this year.
The Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS) and NGOs have been making commendable efforts towards combating this problem, and Naga churches have in recent times been making a conscious move to render support. Nevertheless, it is imperative for all these agencies, along with the government and the community, to work in tandem, realizing and acknowledging that each has a vital role to play, and that these roles may not always be interchangeable.
Perhaps it is time to make a retrospective assessment – if we have been confronting this problem for more than a decade and a half, and if the extent of the community’s perceptions, acceptance and ownership of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWA) remains unclear, there is grounds for a change in strategy. Not many among the general population are adequately informed on the issues of human rights of PLWA, acts such as the one concerning the Greater Involvement of PLWA (GIPA), the empowerment and involvement of PLWA in decision-making and policy-framing processes, or even of their own roles in being a part of the struggle. According to the latest statistics from NSACS, 2772 people have been tested HIV positive, 903 AIDS cases have been reported and 274 have died of AIDS-related complications in Nagaland from 1994 to May, 2005. It may be noted that these figures do not include people who have not been referred to the testing centers made available by the government; and also that motivation for testing is a process that cannot be hurried or forced.
In a statement by Bono (from the rock band U2, who is also an activist for HIV/AIDS) on PLWA: “These lives are lives that were about to shape this millennium…we don’t know what we’ve lost…I think history is going to be incredibly hard on us”. It is reported that globally, the highest rate of new HIV infections occurs in young people under 25 years old. Recognizing the magnitude of the undecided fate of what could turn out to be an entire generation will be a significant step in adopting realistic and positive measures that respect human dignity and create a positive environment for PLWA to lead lives of dignity.
In the challenging process of having to adapt and contextualize various programs and approaches to meet the swift onslaught of HIV/AIDS, it is important to remember that no matter what roles we may envisage for ourselves, at the end, behind each statistic is a human being, an individual with a name, a face, who can have the possibility of leading a meaningful life.
