 |
|
|
| Gender & HIV / AIDS |
| |
| |
| "The [HIV/AIDS] epidemic continues its lethal march around the world, with few signs of
slowing down. In the course of the past year, every minute of every day, some 10 people
were infected. In the hardest-hit regions, life expectancy is plummeting. HIV/AIDS is
spreading at an alarming rate among women, who now account for half of those infected
worldwide." |
| (Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, 2003) |
| |
| |
It is estimated that approximately 2.5 million people live with HIV/AIDS
in India. About one million of them are women[1]. While currently there are
still more men than women afflicted by HIV/AIDS, women are highly
vulnerable to the infection.
Women are physically more susceptible to HIV infection because of the
structure of their reproductive system; however in a context of gender
inequality as there is in India, this vulnerability is amplified by their social
position. Because of the power relations between husband and wife, the
practice of living in the husband's extended family, and a lack of economic self-sufficiency, women are unable to demand that their husbands use a condom. In India, when husbands are
found to be HIV positive it is often the women who are blamed and they may be thrown out to a
life of destitution, unable to return to their natal families. The care-burden for women is also
greater, as they are expected to attend to their husband's and families irrespective of their own
ailing health.
Women are less likely to come forward for testing and treatment, and their healthcare will
frequently take a backseat in terms of family priorities. The further tragedy is that without
knowing their HIV/AIDS status many women unknowingly transmit the infection to their child. If
they knew their status and took preventative action if necessary, the rate of Mother-to-Child
Transmission could be lowered to as little as 2%. Violence and sexual abuse against women add
even further to women's vulnerability.
Thus, health education and the furthering of gender equality are essential in India's fight against
HIV/AIDS.
|
| |
| |
| CSR's Role |
| |
CSR has been actively engaged in promoting health and HIV/AIDS awareness among women
and young girls. Our key focus over the years has been on reproductive and child health in
addition to work on general health. Parivartan Swasthya Kendras - for education & health
awareness, and preventive & curative health care services, have been established.
Generally, we work at four levels to help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and the suffering it
causes:
1. Awareness Generation
We have a health and HIV/AIDS awareness program under the Women Empowerment Project, funded by ICCO. A successful project to raise awareness and knowledge about
reproductive and child health among young girls and women has taken place in four villages in
the Varanasi district in May 2007-May 2008. The grass-roots, bottom-up approach of this project
has been deemed very successful, and we hope it will be replicated in further villages in the
coming years to spread the awareness even further. To read more about these projects, see the
information on the Development Department.
We have also engaged in HIV/AIDS awareness for adolescent boys and girls in slums of Delhi,
funded by ADB, and the promotion of RCH awareness for adolescent girls, supported by DST,
GOI. Additionally we have been ensuring that our own centre staff are aware through the
organization of in-house training on HIV/AIDS.
2. Developing Partnerships
Through the Crises Intervention Centres in Delhi, the Women's Empowerment Project in
Varanasi and the Kanpur Dehat Model for Gender Mainstreaming under PACS Project, CSR has
been able to set up networking and partnerships models for health awareness and healthcare
delivery.
3. Care-Giving
The Community Care Centre in Varanasi sanctioned by Uttar Pradesh State Aids Control Society
have been ranked 'A' grade among 122 community care centers all over India which look after
the well being of HIV/AIDS patient by providing care, counseling and training.
4. Policy/Program/Advocacy
We co- organized a Round Table on Preventive Options for Women with the Global Campaign for
Microbicides and actively lobby for effective implementation of health care policies.
|
| |
| |
NACO HIV Sentinal Survey 2006, http://www.nacoonline.org/Quick_Links/HIV_Data/
UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS epidemic, http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/
2008/2008_Global_report.asp |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
