Special Correspondent
‘Campaign doing more disservice’
To be termed as ‘chronic’, says petitioner
Fear created prompting many to conceal
KURNOOL: Dharani Ajaya Chandra, a Kurnool-based private practitioner, was instrumental in altering the tone and tenor of HIV campaign through legal route in the State. Mr. Chandra approached the High Court with the plea that the approach of the Andhra Pradesh AIDS Control Society in projecting HIV and AIDS as killer disease did more disservice to 15 lakh HIV positive people in the State.
He placed an argument before the court that many developments had taken place in HIV treatment and the quality of life could be prolonged with the drugs available in the market. He suggested that it would be more apt to describe the HIV infection as “chronic disease”. In fact, even diabetes and hypertension did not have complete cure till now.
The Medical and Health Department, through its pleader, informed the court that campaign was being conducted with the slogan “HIV/AIDS preventable and not curable”. The court observed that even that the message did not convey the true status of HIV disease. The message should be redrafted to suit the present needs.
Mr. Ajay Chandra told The Hindu that the fear psychosis created by the fierce campaign by the AIDS Control Society prompted many positive people to conceal their disease status due to social stigma. Undetected and undeclared positive people could easily spread the disease besides depriving themselves of medication.
