What India did on World AIDS Day

In a country where kissing in public causes so much uproar that people have to put up protests against the uproar, but then the protest doesn't happen because the police don't grant permission....Okay, let me start again.

In a country where kissing in public gets so much attention, because all taboos ultimately get attention, it is worth paying attention to how we deal with a worldwide touchy subject like AIDS.

This year on World AIDS Day, this is what happened in India:

1. Condom companies had a field day:

Practicing safe sex is one of the prevention measures for AIDS. Condom companies in India put out full page ads to show their solidarity with World Aids Day. All in all, all anyone will remember about World Aids Day is the fact that Ranveer Singh is the brand ambassador of Durex. And as cute as he is, that is not the way it should be.

2. Boring AIDS related statistics is given in the news: 

People don't care about this disease because all the information the media gives is in a textbookish format. I think these statistics dehumanize the disease and news media really need to give it out in a way that people would want to read. UNICEF India says there is a 57 perc decrease in new HIV infections in India over the last decade. they tweeted it with an image of a woman kissing a baby, so it must be very good news. Here is some more stats for you to decipher.

3. Politicians talk about it– or do they?

It is important to pay attention to what politicians say because they are heading your state and stuff. Tamil Nadu CM O Paneerselvam said people should pledge their support to the HIV affected in the state(read more here). Apparently, he is the only CM who cared to speak on the issue. Union Health Minister JP Nadda said, “It’s the work of every individual to come out and fight it (HIV) out. There should be zero discrimination against people with HIV. This should be our commitment.” Then again, he is expected to say things like that. Curiously, Our PM didn't make a comment about World Aids Day.

4. Funds now go through states:

Basically, they put a middle man between NACO( National Aids Control) and NGOs. The middle man is the state This means there is a delay in the reaching of funds. Read more here.

5. It didn't become a trending topic on twitter in Bangalore: 

That's right, 'Waiting for BABY trailer' is still trending for some reason, but World Aids Day didn't make the list. But it did trend Rank two in India as of 10.06 pm.

6. Trying to make HIV/ AIDS drugs free... but at the same time there is a scarcity: 

Huh? Yeah. We are large suppliers of HIV/AIDS drugs and yet we have scarcity of these drugs because of red tape issues. Read more here.


That's pretty much it. If you want to add something, tell me.