Indian PM: Social inclusion key to winning Aids battle

05/07/2008

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has declared that drawing vulnerable people into the fold of public healthcare initiatives is central to his administration's fight against HIV/Aids.

Speaking after the release of a new report into the scourge - titled Redefining Aids in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response - Mr Singh took on a markedly pragmatic approach to addressing the controversial issue.

"If we have to win this fight against HIV/Aids, we have to create a more tolerant social environment," he explained.

"One need not condone socially unacceptable or medically inadvisable sexual practices in seeking a more tolerant approach to the problem. It is in the interests of the entire society that everyone afflicted with Aids wins the battle against it - they deserve and have the right to live lives of dignity."

Humanitarian agencies and social groups have welcomed the comments with open arms, praising the prime minister's tacit support for the rights of socially-excluded, high-risk groups such as sex workers and gay men.

Mr Singh also went on to paint a predominantly optimistic picture of the Aids crisis in India, acknowledging that the country remains at risk but upholding a recent UN report which slashed its estimate for the number of HIV-positive Indians by almost half.

Concluding his comments, he emphasised his administration's commitment to press forward with its contentious social reform agenda, which includes modern sex education programmes for schoolchildren.

The Independent Commission on Aids in Asia has predicted that eight million Asians will contract HIV by 2020.



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