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Indian health groups welcome new rural HIV push

Indian health groups welcomed a government plan on Tuesday to involve tens of thousands of rural politicians in the fight against an HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has made deep inroads in the countryside.

India recently overtook South Africa as the country with the most number of people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the United Nation's AIDS agency, and nearly 60 percent of the 5.7 million people infected with the virus live in rural areas.

On Tuesday, ministers and officials attending a national meeting of mayors and district council chiefs called upon local leaders in rural areas to join the anti-AIDS campaign.

"This is a very good idea. If local leaders talk about AIDS or even mention it at public meetings it helps," said Anjali Gopalan, executive director of Naz Foundation India, a leading anti-HIV group.

"These leaders speak in the language people can understand."

India has a three-tier system of local government across its 604 districts, home to hundreds of millions of villagers, where conservative social attitudes mean many people find it hard to discuss issues like sexual health.

"I would request chairmen of zilla parishads (district councils) to set up reporting lines with respect to HIV and to monitor the action taken," said Mani Shankar Aiyar, the minister for local self-government.

"At gram sabha (village council) meetings, local leaders can get people together and inform them about AIDS," Aiyar said, adding: "We need a caring, sympathetic gram sabha for people with AIDS."

At the end of the meeting, the rural leaders pledged to step up social awareness campaigns, openly promote the use of condoms and allocate funds for HIV work. They also vowed to tackle discrimination.

Last month, a six-year-old boy in the eastern state of Orissa was forced to leave school on fears he was HIV positive after his father tested positive for the virus, underlying the stigma attached to the disease, especially in rural areas.

Aiyar said his ministry was also considering the idea of a dedicated TV channel for rural India, which would regularly include anti-AIDS messages.

But some rural politicians said it would be hard to change mindsets in the villages.

"(State) money goes into the hands of state bureaucrats and many of them are corrupt," said Nagendra Nath Singh, the chairman of the Annupur district council in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. "And people feel ashamed if sex is talked about openly."