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Oakland, CA, USA - In the second part of this series on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the goal to attempt to provide a global overview of its affects, approaches that are being used to address the spread of the disease and perspective on why everyone everywhere should educate themselves about its impact.
There is not much of what will be reported here that is not grim, sad or troubling. Because I've tried to be comprehensive in my gatherings of the facts, this article will be far longer than readers are likely used to reading at G21 and that our publisher advises is a suitable length for a Web-based article. I apologize, in advance. for its length.
I shall try to begin on some up-lifting notes before presenting the catalogue of facts and figures from around the globe.
In an item with the title "Cabbies in South England City to Hand Out Condoms" distributed by Agence France Presse on August 10, 2005, one finds a moment to smile at how people think about prevention, provided by a well-known company.
"As part of a new sexual health initiative, taxi drivers in the seaside resort of Brighton will hand out free condoms to late-night passengers. The 'Safe Ride Home' program, sponsored by condom manufacturer Trojan, will provide the Brighton-based Radio Cabs with some 60,000 condoms to give to any passengers who ask. 'After a night out, many people find themselves in a position where they do not have condoms and often decide to take a risk. By making Trojan available en route to home, there is no excuse and the embarrassment factor of "have you got a condom" is removed,' said a spokesperson for Trojan, which is owned by Church and Dwight. From 10:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays -- typically the busiest nights of the week -- anyone inquiring will receive a black envelope containing two condoms and a pamphlet on contracept ion."Equally encouraging is this report distributed on the 14th of August from the Xinhua News Agency:"Four trains dubbed the 'Red Ribbon Express' will bring HIV awareness and prevention messages throughout India beginning on Monday, its Independence Day. [Indian Independence Day is celebrated on August 15th each year. - Ed.] The train carriages will feature prevention posters and messages, and artists will perform skits and musicals stressing AIDS prevention at each of several stops. Medical experts and counselors are also participants in the journey, which will begin from Kanyakumari on the Indian peninsula, Jammu in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Jabalpur in Rajasthan, and Guwahati in Assam. 'The initiative has been taken by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation,' said NYKS's zone director, M. Balasubramanian. UNICEF and the National AIDS Control Organization are funding the project, he said. In south India, the train will travel for six months, stopping at 90 sites in four states."These are signs of hope, signs that the world is taking the HIV/AIDS pandemic seriously, even if some governments are doing far less than their citizens believe they should. Most distressing is the fact that the large, industrialized nations who control the wealth of the world too often put up artificial barriers to bringing prevention education and treatment resources to the people who most need them. (We shall discuss some of these barriers toward the conclusion of this article.)When we consider that the United Nations (UN) reports today that there are approximately 14 million AIDS orphans in the world, the point that much more urgently needs to be accomplished becomes self-evident.
One would think that even the usual motivation, the concern for economic development and the almighty profit margin, would motivate more of the global multinationals to make the HIV/AIDS pandemic a pressing priority but there is scant evidence of such a perspective in the reporting of mainstream media, the public relations efforts of the enterprises involved or the employment practices of those enterprises. The conclusion must be reached that the people in the boardroom have yet to read the World Bank assessment published in a report called "The Macroeconomics of HIV/AIDS" released in December, 2004.
In that report, the officials of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund make the point that HIV/AIDS affects people during their most productive years, thus impacting their national economies in ways that are not only social but also affect the welfare systems, the health care systems and national productivity.
It goes on to point out that these affects are not felt in only a single generation but across generations because the entire household is affected, the children of the household are less likely to go unscathed. According to the report, the affects of the pandemic stretch across three generations of a family, typically. The report goes on to recommend that the most affected countries should devote from three to four percent (3% -4%) of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to combating the disease, making the argument that the costs at prevention as miniscule compared to those of treatment and the overall economic impact on the society.
December first of this year has been designated as World AIDS Day. As it approaches, a look at what UNAIDS, the agency responsible for the international approach to the pandemic has to say. According to UNAIDS, there were approximately 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children living with HIV at the end of 2004, and during the year 4.9 million people became newly infected with the virus. The agency goes on to report that nearly half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35; approximately 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations.
This 2005's World AIDS Day there is "Keep the Promise." The 189 member nations of the UN signed a Declaration of Commitment, in June, 2001, to meet the following goals by the end of this year:
We should hold our nations to these commitments. Let's demand they do keep the promise.
- Reduce HIV prevalence by 25% among men and women aged 15-24 in the most affected countries.
- Ensure that at least 90% of young people aged 15 to 24 have access to the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection.
- Reduce the proportion of infants infected with HIV by 20% by increasing access to services which prevent mother-to-child transmission.
- Increase annual spending on HIV and AIDS to $7-10 billion in low and middle-income countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of experiencing rapid expansion of HIV epidemics.
PERISCOPE VIEW
AfricaZIMBABWE: The Associated Press reported on August 9, 2005 ("Up to a Third of Zimbabwe Teachers Infected with HIV, Report Says"):
"According to a report by a government-appointed education assessment team, Zimbabwe's teachers are no more knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS prevention than other adults in the beleaguered country. On Tuesday, the state-run Herald newspaper quoted the report as saying, 'Teachers are at high risk of getting infected with HIV and AIDS, and already one-third of them are likely to be infected with the virus.' Those statistics mirror Health Ministry figures showing that approximately 27 percent of Zimbabweans ages 18-49 are HIV-infected."MOZAMBIQUE: At a conference in Mozambique on Wednesday, August 10th of this year, Mozambique's Health Minister, Paulo Ivo Garrido told a news conference that the rate of HIV infection in his African nation had increased from an estimated 14 percent in 2002 to an estimated 16.2 percent in 2004. The Minister indicated that the infection rate was spreading fastest in Maputo and Gaza province, where many migrant miners from South Africa are concentrated.According to UNICEF of the estimated 100,000 AIDS-related deaths in the country per year, 20 percent are children.
SOUTH AFRICA: In an August 9th article entitled "South African Business Slowly Wakes Up to AIDS Challenge" by Reuters' James Marchata, we read:
" In South Africa, where new figures show that more than 6.5 million in a population of 47 million may now be HIV-positive, companies are coming to understand the impact the disease is having on their bottom lines. As infected workers die, others must be hired and trained; HIV/AIDS-related illness contributes to lost working hours; and most workers who die from the disease are in the 30-50 age group, when they are at their peak economic productivity. Several big firms, including De Beers, Anglo American, and Eskom, have stepped up their efforts as a result. Eskom says it pays for antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for its HIV-infected workers and their infected spouses. The power company operates a testing and counseling clinic, and it even ties performance bonuses for its managers on how many of their staff have visited the clinic. At De Beers, where about 10 percent of workers are HIV-positive, the company AIDS project is run in close collaboration with the National Union of Mineworkers. 'De Beers is a model in the mining industry,' said NUM Deputy General Secretary Archie Palane. 'No other company gives ARVs to its workers and their spouses even after they leave employment.' Anglo American aims to increase the rate of testing among its South African mine workers this year to 50 percent from 21 percent in 2004."
Middle East
SAUDI ARABIA: We learn from the August 9th article in the Globe and Mail of Toronto, Canada, in an article by Mark MacKinnon that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not offer antiretroviral treatment to the more than four thousand foreign workers in the country who test positive for the HIV virus. MacKinnon reports that a phys ician at the King Saud Hospital for Infectious Diseases, who spoke to him on the condition of anonymity, stated that foreign laborers there are treated like "prisoners, not patients. They get no medicine, no care, nothing ä" The practice in Saudi Arabia, according to the article, is deported infected foreigners as quickly as possible.
Asia
CHINA: The following is excerpted from the China report of the HIV/AIDS advocacy group Advert.org:
There is still a massive need in China for public HIV/AIDS education. A survey in January 2003 found that 17% of Chinese citizens had never heard of HIV/AIDS. 77% did not know that transmission could be prevented by using condoms. China is also facing a challenge not just to educate people about proper condom use but to provide enough quality condoms. It was reported at the beginning of 2003 that, with a male population of 650 million, sales of condoms in China are just 2,000 million [2 Billion (US English) - Ed.] a year. [snip]In 2003, following a joint survey with WHO and UNAIDS, the Chinese government estimated China had about 840,000 HIV infected people including about 80,000 HIV/AIDS patients. This does not include those who have already died. But this large number of infected people has to be considered in the context of China's extremely large population which is estimated at 1,299 million. [1 Billion, 299 Million (US English) - Ed.]
There is a huge under reporting of AIDS cases, especially in the rural areas. This is for a variety of reasons which include a shortage of testing equipment and trained health staff, as well as the continuing stigma.
"Exact figures are difficult to arrive at because government at local levels are very reticent to report on actual cases, a situation compounded by individuals who are reluctant to come forward because of discrimination." -- Qi Xiaoqiu, director of China's Department of Disease Control.
Estimates of future infections are equally difficult. Estimates reported in the state media in March 2003 are that more than 300,000 people in China will become infected with HIV during 2003. Whilst UNAIDS and other organisations estimate that by 2010 there could be a generalised epidemic with between ten and twenty million HIV positive Chinese.
Central Asia
Visiting the informative EurasiaNet Web site we find a report with the title, "A SILENT KILLER THREATENS CENTRAL ASIA", published on December 28, 2004, which includes this information:
UNAIDS, the UN body that works to combat AIDS, estimates the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Central Asia to be about 32,000. Some 16,500 of them are in Kazakhstan, 11,000 in Uzbekistan, 3,900 in Kyrgyzstan, and fewer than 200 in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan combined.This article goes on to inform that there is a low level of condom use among sexually active people between the ages of 15 and 24 in Kazakhstan. And there is this ominous quote:Aleksandr Kossukhin, UNAIDS national program officer in Almaty, said that the majority of people with HIV in the region are under the age of 30. Kossukhin stressed that the sexual transmission of HIV is also increasing, a sign that the disease has gained a foothold in the wider population.
"In the case of Tajikistan, it is believed that about 1 million [people] are migrating annually to Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States to earn money ä "Central & South America
VENEZUELA: The Inter Press Service distributed an article on August 12th from Humberto Marquez with the title "Prevention Campaign Aimed At Women and Teens about a program in Venezuela. While the new government in Venezuela is being vilified by the government here in El Norte, by bringing in scores of Cuban (horrors!) health care professionals and teachers, it is bringing great relief to its average citizens. Here's a snippet from Mr. Marquez's reporting.
"Venezuela is stepping up its HIV/AIDS prevention efforts by launching a new campaign that specifically targets women and young people; groups that are increasingly at risk for the disease worldwide. According to Health Minister Francisco Armada, Venezuela 'is one of the few countries that guarantees universal access to treatment for all people with HIV/AIDS, and we are dealing with the shortfall that has existed until now with regard to prevention.' The campaign will use television and radio spots, newspaper ads, and billboards to raise HIV awareness. To complement the public-awareness ads, 1 million male and female condoms will be distributed for free in health care centers geared toward women and youth. The Health Ministry will also distribute up to 20 million condoms through public health facilities. One of the main goals of the campaign, said Deisy Matos, director of the ministry's HIV/AIDS program, 'is for HIV/AIDS testing to become a routine practice for everyone, and particularly women.' According to Matos, 'focusing on women in this campaign was not a random choice, but was based on concrete statistics.' In the early 1990s, women accounted for one out of every 18 HIV infections in Venezuela; now they account for every one out of four, said Matos."North America
In order to monitor the spread of the American epidemic and to assess the need for services and resources, there is a need for accurate surveillance. In the USA, statistics on both HIV and AIDS are collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in an annual report. The latest report was published in December 2004, and contained data up to the end of 2003.The CDC surveillance report includes data on the number of people diagnosed with AIDS, the number living with AIDS and the number of people with AIDS who have died. Such AIDS statistics include not only the 50 states and the District of Columbia but also Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Pacific Islands and the US Virgin Islands. However, around 97.5% of the total number of people living with AIDS reside within the 50 states or the District of Columbia.
Historically, many states have only reported AIDS cases. In recent years, the use of antiretroviral therapy has slowed the progression of HIV in many infected persons and hence contributed to a decline in AIDS incidence. This means that AIDS surveillance data are less able to represent trends in the incidence of HIV infection or the impact of the epidemic on the health-care system. In response, more states are now implementing HIV case reporting. This enables state and local areas to estimate the size of the population living with HIV/AIDS and to predict the services and resources needed.
The CDC reports HIV diagnoses and the number of people living with HIV, using only data collected through confidential name-based reporting. As of the end of 2003, confidential name-based HIV reporting has been implemented by just 36 states plus Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands. Of these 41 areas, only 33 have been reporting for at least 5 years. The resulting lack of comprehensive national HIV data is a serious problem. It is therefore hoped that all states will soon be reporting HIV cases to the CDC.
The chart below provides statistical data on the pandemic on a state-by-state basis.
Area of residence Adults and adolescents Children under 13 Total* HIV and not AIDS AIDS HIV and not AIDS AIDS HIV and not AIDS AIDS Alabama 5,863 3,924 33 15 5,896 3,940 Alaska 262 269 0 2 261 271 Arizona 5,452 4,122 41 5 5,493 4,127 Arkansas 2,281 2,057 13 10 2,294 2,067 California - 55,612 - 138 - 55,750 Colorado 6,118 3,672 14 3 6,132 3,675 Connecticut - 6,959 - 30 - 6,989 Delaware - 1,601 - 12 - 1,613 District of Columbia - 8,785 - 63 - 8,848 Florida 32,196 42,861 253 361 32,449 43,223 Georgia - 13,963 - 60 - 14,023 Hawaii - 1,314 - 4 - 1,318 Idaho 389 274 1 0 390 274 Illinois - 14,241 - 80 - 14,321 Indiana 3,874 3,668 29 18 3,902 3,686 Iowa 469 725 4 3 473 728 Kansas 1,133 1,120 9 3 1,143 1,123 Kentucky - 2,349 - 10 - 2,359 Louisiana 7,675 7,549 98 43 7,773 7,592 Maine - 515 - 3 - 518 < tr> Maryland - 12,830 - 81 - 12,911 Massachusetts - 8,362 - 35 - 8,397 Michigan 5,799 5,562 72 22 5,871 5,584 Minnesota 3,136 1,890 24 10 3,160 1,900 Mississippi 4,341 2,856 34 16 4,375 2,875 Missouri 4,881 5,046 39 14 4,920 5,060 Montana - 175 - 0 - 175 Nebraska 594 594 6 4 600 598 Nevada 3,377 2,648 15 6 3,392 2,654 New Hampshire - 526 - 3 - 530 New Jersey 15,192 16,969 294 119 15,487 17,089 New Mexico 816 1,178 0 4 816 1,182 New York - 66,311 - 349 - 66,660 North Carolina 11,118 6,519 86 25 11,204 6,545 North Dakota 72 56 1 1 73 57 Ohio 7,585 6,548 66 35 7,651 6,583 Oklahoma 2,615 2,081 18 4 2,633 2,085 Oregon - 2,579 - 6 - 2,586 Pennsylvania - 15,054 - 123 - 15,178 Rhode Island - 1,093 - 10 - 1,103 South Carolina 6,906 6,349 64 29 6,970 6,379 South Dakota 197 104 2 1 199 105 Tennessee 6,612 5,806 66 11 6,678 5,817 Texas 20,820 29,958 305 85 21,125 30,043 Utah 687 1,098 9 0 696 1,098 Vermont - 247 - 3 - 250 Virginia 9,182 7,682 60 53 9,242 7,735 Washington - 5,102 - 6 - 5,108 West Virginia 686 640 5 5 690 645 Wisconsin 2,297 1,837 19 11 2,316 1,848 Wyoming 89 95 1 1 90 96 Total 172,714 393,375 1,683 1,942 174,396 395,317 * Because totals are calculated independently of the subpopulations, the values in each row may not sum exactly to the figure in the Total column
What follows is reporting highlighting recent efforts in certain states.
NEW JERSEY: We learn in a report from the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., that there is a trend toward older people becoming infected. In an article entitled "The Number of Older HIV/AIDS Patients is Growing" by Jessica Adler on August 2nd of this year we read:
"The CDC Surveillance Report for 2002 showed that people age 45 and older made up 21 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 1999. By 2002, the figure was 25 percent. A 2004 report from the Division of HIV/AIDS Services at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services lists people age 50 and older as 25 percent of the 32,401 HIV/AIDS cases in the state. People 50 and up accounted for 12 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases in New Jersey in 1997, the report said. By 2002, they accounted for 16 percent of new cases. Larry Ganges, assistant commissioner with the Division of HIV/AIDS Services, said many factors could cause the phenomenon. Among them:NORTH CAROLINA: The Durham Herald-Sun reports in an article by Jim Shamp, "Women Health Study Says STDs on Rise":
- A 2004 report from the division said people 50 and older are less likely to be tested for HIV. Those who do not know they have the virus are more likely to spread it.
- Viagra and other sexual-stimulant drugs allow older men to have sex more often and with more partners.
- Older men and women might not think about HIV/AIDS or using condoms."
"Results from a University of North Carolina Center for Women's Health Research study released Monday reveal a disturbing trend: Many women in North Carolina are engaging in unsafe sex. According to the 2005 North Carolina Women's Health Report Card, the rate of HIV and AIDS among Hispanic women in the state more than tripled from 1999 to 2003, from 6.8 cases per 100,000 to 26.6. And the HIV rate for black women is 15 times higher than that of white, non-Hispanic women. In 2003, there were 67 HIV cases per 100,000 black women in North Carolina, compared with 4.4 cases per 100,000 white women. North Carolina health officials say part of the increase is the result of enhanced HIV testing and follow-up procedures launched statewide in 2002."Oceana
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The news from this part of the world is not encouraging. Janelle Miles reports ("Papua New Guinea Heading for HIV Disaster Experts Warn") for the Australian Associated Press on August 14th:
" The actual number of HIV-infected people in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is probably around 28,000 - three and a half times the official estimate, said Dr. John McBride, an infectious-disease specialist and professor at James Cook University. In contrast, Australia - with about four times Papua New Guinea's population - has about 14,000 HIV/AIDS cases, he said. _In the latest issue of Emergency Medicine Australasia, a team of researchers wrote, "Our findings and those of other investigators indicate that there is the potential in PNG for an economic and humanitarian disaster." Dr. Chris Curry, a visiting professor in emergency medicine at the University of PNG, and colleagues tested blood samples collected in the emergency department of Port Moresby General Hospital and found an HIV prevalence rate of 18 percent. In an accompanying editorial, McBride cited projections showing HIV will reduce PNG's workforce by 13-38 percent by 2020.
Facts and reports can be devastating but This Writer has always believed that nothing brings a story home like the words of people living life on the street. While researching this compilation, I ran across a page of personal stories from women with who were HIV-positive or had full-blown AIDS at the Avert site. Take a moment to read some of those here.On Prostitution & The Pandemic
The challenge of addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic is that it also forces societies to deal with the topic of sex. This brings cultural, emotional, religious and familial issues to bear as we consider how best to address the spread of the disease.One of the social/cultural issues that bear on this crisis is how societies approach "the world's oldest profession." A strong argument can be made that where prostitution is legal and monitored the risk of spreading the disease is minimized. Unfortunately, most prostitution is the world is neither. The fact that many societies depend on migrant workers - separated from their families and the familiar along as there is work, often lonely and young - increases the risk that infection can communicated across borders.
The case of Uzbekistan, for example, is illustrative of this phenomenon. We read at EurasiaNet, referenced above, this story ("HIV Infections Build In Uzbekistan As Prostitution Rises") from Gulnoza Saidazimova , published on December 24, 2004:
Some 11,000 people in Uzbekistan are believed to be infected with HIV or AIDS. According to official data, 20 percent of those are sex workers.At this outset of this article, barriers to combating the spread of the pandemic were mentioned and there are many. Those cultural, education, medical research and health care challenges are certainly issues.Prostitution has been on rise since Uzbekistan obtained independence just over a decade ago. Many blame high unemployment, especially among women, for the growth in prostitution. As the most populous country in Central Asia -- and a transit point for truckdrivers from throughout the region, as well as Turkey and Iran -- Uzbekistan has more prostitutes, and more risk of an AIDS epidemic, than any of its neighbors.
In the capital of Tashkent alone, an estimated 6,000 women offer sexual services.
One woman, Gulya, says she has been infected several times with curable sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like trichomoniasis. But she has not contracted HIV, and describes what she and her co-workers do in order to avoid being infected: "Usually we use condoms. Some clients say they don't want to use them. That is also possible. If we don't use condoms, we ask a man to [ejaculate] outside of us. Then disease can't be transmitted. We are very experienced. It's enough for us to look at a man once and say whether he is sick or not."
Safe-sex advocates face a challenge in Uzbekistan, where the average monthly salary is $15. A pack of three condoms costs $1 -- a purchase few people can afford to make.
The Washington-based organization Population Service International (PSI) works with HIV/AIDS sufferers in all of the Central Asian states but Turkmenistan.
Artur Niyazov heads PSI's work in Uzbekistan, and says the group is working to promote safe sex and condom use among the country's young people. It distributes information and sells low-priced condoms in areas where prostitution and drug use among young people is known to be high. Niyazov says PSI volunteers also work with prostitutes directly at the sites where sex services are provided:
"They go directly to the field -- meaning to streets, to highways, to apartments, anywhere where [prostitutes] gather. We collaborate with 'Mama Rozas' (eds: women who find clients for prostitutes). The collaboration is also between peers, because we have Mama Rozas among our outreach workers. Sixty percent of our outreach workers are former commercial sex workers and Mama Rozas."
But most galling to those concerned with beating the pandemic are those barriers imposed by government policies based on ideology rather than science.
Much has been made about the insistence of the Bush administration of the United States tying its foreign aid to its anti-abortion stance but little has been said about its ideology as regards prostitution. Tragically, here too ideology trumps science. The following story from India illustrates the point being made.
KOLKATA, India, May 27 (IPS) - A battle cry by thousands of sex workers in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal threatens to trigger a worldwide protest against the United States for passing a bill that requires groups receiving U.S. AIDS relief money to publicly condemn prostitution.On December first this year people concerned about the on-going ravages of this pandemic will come together asking the governments of the world to "Keep the Promise." It is our hope that this article has prompted you to join other people of conscience in demanding that our governments end the death that is destroying families, societies and nations. For more information from the 2004 AIDS day, you can download a statistical PowerPoint presentation by following this link.. The download is available in English, French, Russian and Spanish.''When sex workers sneeze, George Bush freezes'' is the vociferous slogan of a 65,000-strong sex workers' body in West Bengal, which Friday sounded the bugle of protest.
Supporters of the anti-prostitution bill say the only way to deal with AIDS in the long run is to eliminate the global sex trade.
But many workers with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) say the short-term damage of not providing sex trade workers with condoms and health services isn't worth it. And they're willing to forego sizable funds to stay firm on this conviction.
Earlier this month Brazil, unwilling to accept the U.S. anti-prostitute terms, turned down much needed money to fight AIDS - some 40 million U.S. dollars.
Believed to be Asia's biggest sex workers' body, Durbar Mahila Samanay Committee (DMSC), based in Kolkata, is planning to organise their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe against the bill.
DMSC, the apex body of sex workers in West Bengal, has a membership of about 65,000 and the success of the Sonagachi HIV/AIDS programme - in the city's red light district -- is the model for projects under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has thrown in 200 million dollars to fight the killer disease in six Indian states.
''Sonagachi's work has received strong positive evaluations from both UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) and the World Bank, and has been cited by UNAIDS as a 'best-practice' model of working with women and men in prostitution,'' said the New York- based Human Rights Watch in a letter on May 18 to U.S. President George W. Bush.
''These initiatives focus on promoting the fundamental human rights and health of persons working in prostitution, but do not equal the promotion of prostitution,'' Human Rights Watch pointed out. ''Yet valuable programmes such as those run by Sonagachi and organisations like it are exactly the type threatened by current U.S. laws and policies.''
The University Institute Hall in north Kolkata's College Square, where the DMSC's third state conference is currently held, was teeming with women sex workers. ''There are about 3,500 here today and we all have resolved to put up a fight against any move to deny our rights,'' said Gayen. The sex workers in the morning formed a human chain and walked hand in hand to the venue where speaker after speaker decried the U.S. policy. -- from " Sex Workers Take On U.S. Holier-Than-Thou Bill" by Sujoy Dhar, Inter Press News Agency, May 2005
In the next part of this series, our focus will be on medical research involved in combating the pandemic and the issues of health care.
Peace Out.
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