The ascendency of India as an economic world power

1 December 2006 was observed as the World AIDS Day 2006 around the world. AIDS has become a common phenomenon in all the countries in the world and there is no sign of abatement. It is believed that There are about 40 million people living with HIV worldwide and India is now the leader in this field as the country has the largest number of HIV infected people in the world. So, naturally, Indian government is now worried about the spread of AIDS.

This year, Indian government, media and NGOs gave extra effort to spread the message of AIDS to the common people. Especially, they tried to give the message of social acceptance of the HIV/AIDS infected people. It seems that this message did not manage to convince everyone. The irony is that 5 HIV infected children were thrown out of school on this year’s World Aids Day in the Indian state of Kerala.

The children were students of primary school in Kottayam district. Even, 3 of them are orphans. They come from very poor background.

The Indian government or the state government of Kerala had nothing to do behind it. The children were thrown out of the school because the parents of other children strongly objected to the idea of their children studying in the same school with these 5 HIV infected children. The school management was helpless and had to comply with the demand of the parents. So, these 5 children are studying now in a makeshift classroom. Not an ideal condition- but I am happy that at least they have a place to study.

This tragic incident shows that Indian government is fighting a losing battle against AIDS in India. On the one hand, the number of HIV positive people is increasing. On the other hand, many people are ignorant about AIDS and they posses a very bad kind of superstitious prejudice and even hatred against AIDS victims. I must say that both the Indian government and the Indian media are not doing enough in this regard. They are not trying to educate the ordinary people about AIDS. So, AIDS victims will continue to suffer discrimination for the time being.

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