PM'S SPEECH ON POLICY MAKERS CONFERENCE ON HIV/AIDS
The Prime Minister, Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated International Policy Makers Conference
on HIV/AIDS: Towards a World Without AIDS here today. The Prime
Minister also announced the launch of a Parliamentary
Forum on AIDS control. Apart from delegates from all over the
world, Leader of Opposition, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Union Minister
for Health & Family Welfare Shri C.P. Thakur, Chief Ministers
of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka and many members
of Parliament were present on the occasion.
The following is the speech of the Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion of the Parliamentary
Meet on HIV/AIDS here today:
"I am pleased to be with all of you this morning
at this Parliamentary Meet on HIV/AIDS. I congratulate
the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, ICMR, and NACO for
organizing this important conference in India.
The history of mankind is, in many ways, a history
of its struggle against death and disease. There are many
indicators to the progress made by the human race down the centuries.
Perhaps the most telling among them are successes of science and
technology in man’s battle against dreaded diseases.
Many pestilences that claimed tens of thousands
of lives in the past are merely names in medical books today.
Most countries have seen a steep fall in their earlier high rates
of infant mortality and maternal mortality. Life expectancy
is rising in most parts of the world.
Just when mankind was getting ready to declare
its triumph over infectious diseases, it is paradoxical that a
new infectious disease should have surfaced in the last two decades.
HIV/AIDS is a disease that has the potential to become an epidemic
with catastrophic social and economic consequences. Indeed, it
has already become one in several countries and threatens to do
so in many others, unless its spread is quickly arrested.
In the past, epidemics generally tended to be
local both in their reach and in their lethal impact. In
contrast, no continent, no country, and no community have escaped
the vicious trail of the AIDS virus. Thus, HIV/AIDS can
be called the first epidemic in the era of globalization.
What was once troubling the industrialized world is now spreading
rapidly in developing countries. More than 95 percent of
the newly-infected people are in Sub Saharan Africa, South Asia,
and South East Asia.
Which is why, this global challenge calls for
an effective global response. No country, however mighty
economically and advanced technologically, can liberate itself
fully from HIV/AIDS unless the entire human race can be so liberated.
Experience has shown that the best way to respond
to this challenge is "to act locally and to collaborate globally".
It is heartening to know that in the past decade, the expansion
of the national programmes against HIV/AIDS has been matched by
the growth in international collaboration in this field.
It has been two decades since HIV/AIDS attacked
the world. So far, success in developing a vaccine against
this virus has eluded us. After extensive research, rich
countries have found ways to extend the lives of those infected
by the virus through a combination of anti-retroviral drugs.
But even common people in rich countries cannot afford these drugs.
Most infected people in poor and developing countries cannot even
think of buying these drugs.
Even after removing all excise duties on them
— and our Government has done so in the recent budget — such
multi-drug therapy will still cost between twelve hundred to twenty
thousand rupees a month. Moreover, it is an expense the
patient has to bear indefinitely.
Therefore, the only solution is to develop a
vaccine to prevent the infection. AIDS control urgently
calls for new and innovative approaches to develop effective vaccines,
diagnostics, and drugs by using, among other things, the modern
tools of biotechnology. The latest technological breakthroughs
in genomics and related areas have given new confidence to the
scientific community.
Early and correct diagnosis of HIV is critical
for its subsequent control and management. I am happy that
in India we have launched major initiatives, through our concerted
focus on biotechnology research, to develop HIV diagnostic kits.
Two of them are already in the market and are doing well both
in India and in many other countries. We are willing to
collaborate with other countries and to share these technologies
with them.
I, therefore, heartily commend the joint efforts
of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, ICMR, NACO, and
the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in speeding up the development
and distribution of a preventable AIDS vaccine.
The international research so far, has been focused
on the "B" sub-type of the HIV virus, which is prevalent in the
United States and Thailand, where this research is taking place.
In India, as most of you know, the "C" sub-type is prevalent.
Therefore, we need a "C" sub-type vaccine as quickly as all of
you can develop it.
We have many laboratories, both under the Indian
Council for Medical Research and the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research, which can supplement the work being done
overseas. Our research strengths, particularly in Indian
systems of medicine like Ayurveda, can also be used to support
your research.
For all of us in India, controlling the spread
of HIV/AIDS and taking good care of its victims has become an
urgent national task. I am concerned at the rapid rise in the
number of people affected by HIV/AIDS in our country. It
is a concern that is shared equally by the Central and State Governments,
as also by all political parties.
On my part, in December 1998 I had convened a
meeting in this same hall with Members of Parliament to sensitize
them on this issue. Last year, we had a useful meeting
of the Chief Ministers of the six states in which this disease
is most prevalent. I commend the Chief Ministers of these
and other States for their efforts and acknowledge their contribution
to making AIDS control a national priority.
I am happy that the Indian business community
is beginning to realize its responsibility in contributing its
mite to the war on HIV/AIDS. We had two useful meetings
with prominent businessmen and they have taken upon themselves
specific tasks to spread AIDS awareness.
I believe that years of information, education,
and communication programmes run by NACO, State Governments, and
NGOs have made some positive impact. Many people, both
in urban and rural areas, have now become aware of HIV/AIDS and
the dangers of unprotected sex and infected needles.
However, much more needs to be done. We
need to reach out to the illiterate and to those who are most
vulnerable to AIDS infection. In this, our States should
learn the right lessons from one another and also from other countries
on what works and what does not. We should especially emphasize
that AIDS control is not only about safe sex and use of condoms.
It is also about making necessary changes in one’s lifestyle so
that one is responsible and caring to oneself, to one’s family,
and to the community at large.
To effect such positive changes in attitude and
behavior, we should also mobilize indigenous Indian sources of
moral authority. Which means that religious and social
leaders should become far more active in the AIDS control campaign
than has been the case so far. We should also activate
trade unionists, school and college teachers, and, if necessary,
the humble postman to carry the message of prevention being the
only cure, at least so far.
This conference has been specially convened to
launch a Parliamentary Forum on AIDS control. Some Members
of our Parliament have already taken the lead in running AIDS
awareness programmes in their constituencies and in their States.
For this, they are even committing resources from the yearly constituency
development fund available to them.
I would like to make a special mention of a highly
visible citywide campaign launched by our young Member of Parliament,
Shri Kirit Somiya in Mumbai. I also recognize Shri Kapil
Sibal, at whose initiative this conference is being held, and
Shri Oscar Fernandes, who has shown much dedication in promoting
the cause of AIDS control. Their examples deserve to be
emulated by other MPs.
The Parliamentary Forum that will be launched
today should reach out to all MPs, and through them, to Legislators
in State Assemblies and members of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
As a first step, I suggest that your Forum convenes a meeting
of the MPs from the six most affected states of Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, and Nagaland, even before
the present session of Parliament ends next week to brief them
about this conference. I also suggest that the Parliamentary
Forum, all the NGOs active in this field, and NACO should work
together to achieve better results.
Before I conclude, I must applaud the Positive
Women’s Network and similar groups of HIV-positive sisters and
brothers for their courage and their dedication to the cause of
creating mass awareness about this national mission. One of their
representatives will speak after me and propose a vote of thanks.
Indeed, all of us should thank her and her colleagues.
Until we have an effective vaccine, prevention
through awareness is the only antidote we have against HIV/AIDS.
But the first step to being aware is to be compassionate. Awareness
demands the shedding of all types of prejudice and enabling the
affected persons to live a normal life free of stigma and full
of joy that is as much their due as everybody’s.
With these words, I wish you all the best in
your deliberations.
Thank you".