Manipur & areas of concern - 26th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial observance

Two and a half decades ago, a mysterious disease swept the gay population in San Francisco in the United States. Amid confusion and misconception about the disease, many young people had died unaware. In 1983, four young men – Bobbi Campbell, Bobby Reynolds, Dan Turner and Mark Feldman – knowing they would die within a year, decided to put a face against the disease by putting a banner reading “Fighting For Our Lives.” Thus the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial observance was born. On the third Sunday of May every year, people around the world light candles to honor those who have died of AIDS, to support the millions of HIV infected brethrens and to bring about awareness and behaviour change for protecting the uninfected youths across the globe.

“Together, we are the solution” is the theme for this year’s edition of International AIDS Candlelight Memorial which falls on 17th May 2009. The theme reminds us the importance of a collective effort in fighting the AIDS epidemic.

Alarm bell
Routine screening for HIV started in Manipur from 1986 and the first case of HIV infection was reported from among the Injecting Drug Users (IDU) in 1990. At present, around 30,000 HIV positive cases have been reported in Manipur. During April ’08 to March ’09, out of 39,147 pregnant women tested for HIV in the state, 272 were found to be HIV infected and 204 mother-baby pairs were given Navirapine treatment. By March this year, 5314 HIV positives were receiving ART regularly from the seven ART centres. Among them, there are 445 children below 15 years. During the same period, 760 AIDS patients were admitted to the six community care centres across the state. HIV prevalence rate among the women attending ante-natal clinics stands at 14 per 1000, which is high enough to term the state as a High Prevalence State in the country. 

Empowering the MSM
Apart from IDUs and commercial sex workers, MSM (Men having sex with men) community in Manipur is a major concern. The sexual behaviours of this group of people are dangerous as far as the HIV spread is concerned. The MSM need to be given social recognition and their creativity is to be counted as a treasure of the society. The third gender people like MSM need empowerment, education and recognition so that they meet the mental and physical harassments of sexually active young people, security personnel etc. Their talents may also be tapped to make them involved in AIDS control programmes.
Borderline woes

Another major concern in Manipur is the cross border sexual activities in addition to drug trafficking and drug abuse. Manipur shares a 358 km long International border with Myanmar. Besides being a heroin producing country, Myanmar gets the dubious distinction of having high rates of HIV prevalence in south-east Asia. Border villages in Ukhrul and Chandel districts have often shared the most unwanted flesh trade and drug trafficking. Sex workers from the other side of the border frequent the border towns almost regularly. The drug users of both sides often cross each other for convenience. The HIV/AIDS control programmes in these areas need a special look.

Youth and sex – a dangerous nexus.
The world is very fast today. Young people have no time to ponder over what is good and what is bad. Onslaught of various media – cable TV, Internet, mobile phones, SMS etc has influenced the young and tender minds to imitate whatever is seen and heard. Today is the age of Fast- food- culture. Students seldom visit libraries. Many young boys and girls spend time in Internet cafes chatting with unwanted dealings. It is even heard that there are young boys and girls talking a whole night with mobile phones. SMSs in mobiles with obscene pictures and words have been the order of the day. So as to exactly counter the newly emerging media influences, we have to regularly feed the young people with HIV prevention messages without interruption. The flow of information and messages to tender minds should not be slowed down under any circumstances.

An Apparently slowed down war
Sincerity and commitment of the people fighting against AIDS has to be counted in reckoning the pace of the epidemic. Saying goes like this “if you are fighting against AIDS, you have to be swifter than HIV”. The virus loves bureaucratic warriors who dislike to be in the field and who are hardly in touch with the people at the grassroots and at the remotest borders.

No new initiative for spreading HIV/AIDS awareness to the general population is seen in Manipur. We no longer hear useful HIV prevention messages from Imphal Radio station. For the last few years, we have not seen any effective HIV jingles in Imphal Doordarshan and local cable networks. Display advertisements of HIV/AIDS messages do not appear in local newspapers as it were before. No skit or no street play has been demonstrated in public. No shumang lila has been displayed for cautioning the general public against AIDS. No new hoarding or signboard is seen at roadside and no new leaflet/ pamphlet/ poster produced. No newsletter containing AIDS information has been published for public view in the state. Awareness sessions with resource persons are very rarely organized. The official website of Manipur State AIDS Control Society sits idle on the web without any updates from the day it was launched. No shouting is heard. Does it mean either the magnitude of HIV epidemic in Manipur has diminished to such an extent that youngsters do not need more messages on HIV/AIDS  or the communication and media activities for HIV prevention and control has totally failed in the state ? Here is really dearth of HIV/AIDS information and messages while other parts of the globe are flooded with rich and updated information on the disease. 
The key to HIV prevention is definitely a positive behaviour among the young people which can be brought about through AWARENESS only. As there is no vaccine for HIV and no standard cure for AIDS, education remains the only means for prevention and control of the disease. Without spreading awareness and information through target-specific suitable channels regularly, all efforts for provision of ARVs, Navirapin therapy, needle syringe exchange, condom promotion etc. will not be effective. Hence, the importance of information, education and communication cannot be overlooked.