CHILDREN WITH AIDS
Special support needed
HIV-positive children in Assam and their families need more than the usual measures of state support for their economic, medical and social needs.
Assam
September 2011

HIV-POSITIVE WOMEN
Going through with their pregnancies
The risk to the unborn child from an HIV-infected mother is significant, but with advances in science and medical care, more women are hopeful about choosing to keep the child.
Women's health
July 2010

HEALTH CARE
HIV and mental disorders
While those with mental disorders are at increased danger for being infected with HIV, the onset of the virus itself gives rise to a number of mental illnesses.
Mental health
August 2009

OPINION: SEX EDUCATION
From awareness to real change
Kapil Sibal would do well to assess the learnings from two recent and major HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, before "looking into the ban on sex education".
Guest columns
July 2009

HEALTH/SOCIETY
Using popular culture to mainstream AIDS
In AIDS Sutra, 16 renowned literary figures write about the AIDS epidemic, and how different communities across the country are grappling with it.
Culture | Books
September 2008

WORKING WITH HIV POSITIVE WOMEN
Surviving a battle they fight every day
In India's business capital, the NGO Sanmitra is helping HIV positive women re-enter the mainstream workforce.
Women's health | Maharashtra
April 2008

WOMEN'S HEALTH
When it comes to HIV, all women are at risk
The expression 'women at risk' can no longer be used to describe only those engaged in sex work,
Women's Health | Gender violence
December 2007

PROSTITUTION
Community work making brothels safer
In brothels of West Bengal, there is high awareness of the risk to HIV. Women are not taking any chances.
Gender violence | West Bengal
October 2007

HIV/AIDS CHILDREN
Their secret status and a risky schooling
HIV-positive children are being thrown out of school in Uttar Pradesh by insensitive teachers and parents alike. Many parents are afraid to let schools know that their children are positive, and the state's machinery has failed to raise any awareness. Puja Awasthi sounds the warning bells.
Children | Uttar Pradesh
September 2007

GENDER VIOLENCE
HIV-AIDS and gender violence
A six-month research study to understand violence against HIV affected women revealed key contours of pre-contractual and post-contractual threats and risks that women face. Shoma Chatterji reports on a workshop where the findings were discussed.
Gender violence | West Bengal
July 2007

SOCIETY
Devadasis uniting to end 'dedications'
For decades, girls in northern Karnataka have been 'dedicated' to goddess Yellama and then turned into sex-workers. Today, determined groups of devadasis of Bagalkot district are bravely stopping the practice, and doing more, writes Ramesh Menon.
Culture | Karnataka
April 2007

COMMUNICATING SAFE-SEX
Condom Ads: missed messages
India's attitude to condoms and contraception is worrisome at a time when promiscuity has a stamp of approval. Condom manufacturers are pitching pleasure enhancement in their ads, instead of being direct about the protection against AIDS. Charumathi Supraja reports.
Society
February 2007

AIDS' ORPHANS
The younger side of AIDS
There are an estimated 200,000 children with HIV who are under 15 years old in the country, while some 50,000 to 60,000 children are born with HIV each year, despite the fact that drugs now exist to immunize such children.
Children
February 2007

AIDS AND THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
An opportunity to end health care slumber
The HIV epidemic has brought into focus multiple public health issues facing rural India today. In this respect, it presents us with an opportunity to deal with issues that have been neglected and even been actively ignored for too long, writes Supriya Kumar.
Public Health
November 2006

MANDATORY TESTING
Playing politics with AIDS
The Goan government wants to make HIV testing mandatory for marrying couples. But mandatory testing will drive some people, who are already sceptical about the health care system, further away from it. It is also unlikely to cause the changes in behaviour necessary to prevent the spread of HIV, writes Neerja Vaidya-Yadav.
October 2006

PREVENTION IN SEX WORK
'Yours or mine, either is fine'
In India, paid sex fuels the spread of HIV, its skewed power equation making it impossible for women to negotiate their own safety. Women in sex work in Mumbai now have an additional means to protect themselves – the female condom. Sumita Thapar and Akhila Sivadas report.
Maharashtra
September 2006

STUDY: PREVALENCE DROP
Positive blip on HIV radar
A new Indo-Canadian study has found a one-third decline in new HIV infections in the worst-hit regions of the country - Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Maharashtra. Researchers say that prevention efforts seem to be paying off, but warn that the battle is far from over. Nitin Jugran Bahuguna reports.
May 2006

EMPLOYEES WITH HIV/AIDS
Workplace blues
"We can work. We pose no risk to our co-workers. If you take away our jobs, you will kill us faster than the HIV virus." People living with HIV/AIDS need to be kept in employment for as long as they can work, and there are practical and proven steps to make this happen, writes S. Mohd Afsar.
Combat Law, Issue 5.2
May 2006

LEGALISING PROSTITUTION
The silence around sex work
Health interventions for sex workers and homosexuals would progress if they were not regarded as criminals, and accorded dignity and rights, researchers tell the PM.
Livelihood | Women
December 2005

TAKING STOCK OF A TABOO
Sex education still off the charts
Students must feel comfortable seeking counselling on sex-related issues. Each of their questions, no matter how private, needs to be answered.
Education policy
December 2005

AWARENESS-BUILDING
Clubbing to combat HIV
In Andhra's Khammam district, awareness clubs are bringing conversations about AIDS into the open, and roping in the volunteer spirit of young people to hold the line against a potential epidemic.
Andhra Pradesh
August 2005

SURVEILLANCE
Wake up call for HIV/AIDS in U.P.
Official statistics are putting Uttar Pradesh firmly as one of India's low prevalence states for HIV/AIDS, even though stories from village after village show the disease making its way in.
Uttar Pradesh
August 2005

OPINION
Blaming women
The link between inequitable gender relations and the spread of HIV is setting it apart from other communicable diseases, says Kalpana Sharma.
Women's health | Kalpana Sharma
June 2005

AIDS AND VALUES
The ABC's of fighting AIDS
The main message that is going out to the masses is: use condoms. The language of this dominant message, however, overlooks the fundamental value that it promotes.
Guest Opinions
November 2004

AIDS: Abuses against children rising
A new report finds that children affected by HIV/AIDS in India are facing discrimination and that otherwise healthy children being exposed to increasing risks of HIV/AIDS.
Child health
July 2004