"Kill the Bill"

Sex workers, women's groups and AIDS NGOs cross the country will come together to demand withdrawal of Amendments proposed to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 2006 (ITPA).

Enacted in 1956, the ITPA criminalizes all aspects of commercial sex without making sex work an offence per se. Since, the Act has been amended twice - in 1976 and 1986. In 50 years of its implementation, ITPA has caused severe repression of sex workers while failing to prevent human trafficking.

Changes to the ITPA were first mooted in June 2005, when the Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, proposed to decriminalize soliciting and create a new offence of trafficking in persons. The Bill was sent to a Group of Ministers (GoM), after Renuka Chowdhury, then Minister for Tourism raised objections.

Post GoM deliberations, new amendments were proposed, which included, for the first time, penalty for visiting brothels. This provision was vehemently opposed by sex workers for scuttling livelihood and compromising health and safety.

Despite protests, in May 2006, the ITPA Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. A Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) reviewed the Bill & suggested wider reforms including a revamp of the entire Act. Last year, Ministry of Women and Child Development proposed further revisions, ignoring key recommendations of the PSC.

Protesting against the proposed amendments in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, volunteers of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) took out a rally on Tuesday through the red light areas in Budhwar Peth and Shukrawar Peth, claiming "criminalisation" of customers would make a negative impact on the livelihoods of sex workers.

The NGOs included Saheli HIV/AIDS Karyakarta Sangh, Akhil Budhwar Peth Devdasi Sanstha and DISHA - Deep Griha Society.

Tejaswi Sevekari, Director of Saheli, said there are major flaws in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2006, which is due for cabinet approval in the coming parliamentary monsoon session.

There are approximately 32 million people outside of the United States living with HIV/AIDS. Since 2003, America has extended a helping hand to these individuals by spending more than $15 billion on the largest international health commitment ever to fight a single disease. Unfortunately, as we open our wallets to fund lifesaving treatments to those living with HIV/AIDS overseas, we will not open our doors.

Today, HIV is the only medical condition that renders people inadmissible to the United States. In fact, we are just one of 12 countries that prohibit, almost without exception, HIV-positive non-citizens from entering the country (China has recently overturned its ban). This policy places the United States in the same company as Sudan, Russia, Libya and Saudi Arabia.

Such a discriminatory policy has no basis in public health, let alone common sense.

We are proud to have introduced the HIV Nondiscrimination in Travel and Immigration Act to overturn this unfair policy.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will examine whether a person serving in the Army can be discharged on the sole ground of his being HIV-positive. It, however, declined to stay the June 24 order discharging Ved Prakash, havildar of the Indian Army Ordinance Corps, with effect from June 30.

A vacation Bench, consisting of Justices Altamas Kabir and G.S. Singhvi, on Friday posted the matter for final hearing on August 6. In the meantime, the Centre and the Army were asked to give their response.

The petitioner served the army for 24 years. His HIV-positive status was detected during a blood donation camp in 1999. Subsequently, he was given P2 (permanent) medical classification, a category assigned to HIV-positive persons, who are not on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART). He continued to do normal duties and during this period he was promoted from Naik to the havildar rank.

From December 2007, Ved Prakash was put on ART and the medical officer certified that he was capable of performing his duties. However, he was discharged from service. The Delhi High court granted an interim stay against discharge but later vacated it.

On 30th June 2008, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India will formally receive the report of the independent Commission on AIDS in Asia ("the Commission") from Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and Head of the Commission. Drawing on extensive studies, data review, specialist inputs and other contributions, the report entitled - Redefining AIDS in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response" is a first ever assessment of the epidemiology and impact of HIV in Asia. Its lessons are timely; in light of impending policy change before the Government of India.

Asian countries have a window of opportunity to avert large scale HIV epidemics. Unlike Africa, HIV in Asia is concentrated among specific population groups - sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users and men who have sex with other men. Among these, unprotected paid sex is the primary source of HIV infections in Asia including India. According to the report, men buying sex are the single largest group infected with HIV; with the potential of infecting wives, prospective wives and other female partners, in other words, to the rest of the population.

At the same time, it is possible to break this chain of transmission by implementing large scale prevention programs, covering more than 80% sex workers and clients. The Commission concludes that use of condoms in commercial sex will do more than any other intervention to prevent HIV in Asia.

Countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and the state of Tamil Nadu have successfully contained HIV through rigorous condom promotion in sex work. The Commission attributes this to structural interventions, that is, condom use policies in brothels and/or mobilization of sex workers - strategies supported by definitive evidence.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has released the report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia entitled "Redefining AIDS in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response" in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Ministers speech on the occasion:

"I am indeed very pleased to launch this very important Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia. I compliment my esteemed friend, Dr. C. Rangarajan, and his colleagues on the Commission for producing an extremely important and thought provoking report. It is a well-researched document that puts together information and analysis that can help us evolve more effective strategies for reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the countries of Asia.

It is heartening to note that the report validates the basic strategic framework that has been adopted in India. It reiterates and reconfirms our understanding of the epidemic. It shows that the measures that we have adopted in India to reverse the pandemic have a sound basis but there is no scope for complacency and Dr. Rangarajan has just now reminded us. We need to do more, we must do more and all segment of the national thinking community must be actively involve in this gigantic struggle against this menace of AIDS.

NEW DELHI: On the day he leaves Microsoft to work for his pet social sector projects, software pioneer Bill Gates on Friday announced a USD 23 million grant to India to control the scourge of HIV/AIDS in the country.

The announcement was made when Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss called upon him at his office in Seattle, United States.

Gates appreciated the efforts made by the Minister for improving the Health sector in India and congratulated him for the effective implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in India.

Gates announced that the foundation would make a USD 23 million grant to India which would be spent through National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) in India over the next three years.