Goa’s mother-to-child HIV transmission rates have reduced as the last case detected was in 2017, which is a big achievement for the Goa State Aids Control Society (GSACS), said Dr. Jose D’Sa, Project Director, GSACS on Friday.
“We have started viral load testing in Goa and aim to get a higher viral load suppression outcome,” he said. At a community conversation organised by the Human Touch Foundation (HTF) and GSACS on Zero Discrimination Day on Friday, Dr. D’Sa spoke about the national plan for HIV and its three zeros — zero new infections, zero HIV-related deaths and zero discrimination. Knowledge, he said, is needed to empower people and reduce discrimination.
Peter F. Borges, Founder of HTF called for action to change discriminatory laws and practices — a significant barrier to persons with HIV/AIDS seeking access to health services, and make positive changes to ensure equality, inclusion and protection.
Moderating the session, he called on the Goa government to adopt structural interventions to prevent HIV among the most at-risk population and combat social and cultural attitudes leading to discrimination. HTF is actively working with GSACS to eliminate such stigma and discrimination.
The community conversation explored specific actions that individuals, civil society organisations and the government can take.
Fr. Allan Tavares, Administrator, Fr. Agnel College, Pilar, Goa touched upon stigma and faith and said that what is considered normal need not be so. “Discrimination is a result of the fear of the unknown and ignorance. How we tackle it depends on our education, we need to educate ourselves with knowledge,” he said.
Monika S. Kshatriya, journalist and gender rights activist said that the Transgender Bill which was passed without consulting transpeople was derogatory to them. “The law itself is discriminating,” she said.
Dr. Shradha Mulgaonkar Patil, obstetrician and gynecologist, spoke about the committment to zero discrimination in healthcare. She said that the preoperative testing and precautions could be seen as discriminatory in certain circumstances. “We live in a society that panics very fast. We always teach our students to take precautions, but we also have to now counsel them about discrimination and how to tackle it,” she said.
Senior lawyer and women’s activist Albertina Almeida said there are laws against discrimination but they are not implemented. “The law states that anyone who is discriminated against can approach an ombudsman but are there any people appointed for the post? Discrimination on HIV-related grounds have a penalty but it is rarely initiated,” she said.
Dr. Adlina Braganza, Associate Professor and HOD of Psychology at Carmel College, Goa, said that the educational system is afraid of answering questions regarding sexual identity and orientation, and that it needs to bridge the gap between what the youth want to learn and what is taught to them.
Celina D’Costa, volunteer at IMAX Cooperative, shared her own experience of discovering she had HIV and ill-treatment by her family. She said that she was well established now, but that “there are different levels of discrimination faced in every sphere of life”.
Published - March 02, 2019 10:07 pm IST
