The HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill passed by Parliament does not guarantee access to anti-retroviral drugs and treatment for opportunistic infections, but there is no denying that it is a good base for an active health rights movement to build upon. Understandably, HIV-positive people in the country, estimated at over 21 lakh, are disappointed that the Centre’s commitment to take all measures necessary to prevent the spread of HIV or AIDS is not reflected in the Bill, in the form of the right to treatment. The law only enjoins the States to provide access “as far as possible”. Beyond this flaw, though, the legislation empowers those who have contracted the infection in a variety of ways: such as protecting against discrimination in employment, education, health-care services, getting insurance and renting property. It is now for the States to show strong political commitment, and appoint one or more ombudsmen to go into complaints of violations and submit reports as mandated by the law. Here again, State rules should prescribe a reasonable time limit for inquiries into complaints, something highlighted by the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare that scrutinised the legislation.
Access to insurance for persons with HIV is an important part of the Bill, and is best handled by the government. The numbers are not extraordinarily large and new cases are on the decline, according to the Health Ministry. Data for 2015 published by the Ministry show that two-thirds of HIV-positive cases are confined to seven States, while three others have more than one lakh cases each. Viewed against the national commitment to Goal 3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals — to “end the epidemic of AIDS” (among others) by 2030 — a rapid scaling up of interventions to prevent new cases and to offer free universal treatment is critical. Publicly funded insurance can easily bring this subset of care-seekers into the overall risk pool. Such a measure is also necessary to make the forward-looking provisions in the new law meaningful, and to provide opportunities for education, skill-building and employment. As a public health concern, HIV/AIDS has a history of active community involvement in policymaking, and a highly visible leadership in the West. It would be appropriate for the Centre to initiate active public consultations to draw up the many guidelines to govern the operation of the law. Evidently, the requirement for the ombudsman to make public the periodic reports on compliance will exert pressure on States to meet their obligations. In an encouraging sign, the Supreme Court has ruled against patent extensions on frivolous grounds, putting the generic drugs industry, so crucial for HIV treatment, on a firm footing. The HIV and AIDS Bill may not be the answer to every need, but it would be a folly not to see its potential to make further gains.
IMPORTANT WORDS FROM ARTICLE & THEIR MEANINGS
1) Opportunistic (अवसरवादी) - Op-pur-chew-nis-tic
- Meaning - exploiting immediate opportunities, especially regardless of planning or principle - Adjective
- Synonyms - polite, gracious
- Antonyms - rude, impolite
- Example - Any person who steals from the elderly is an opportunist of the worst kind.
2) Ombudsmen (लोकपाल) - Aum-buds-men
- Meaning - an official appointed to investigate individuals' complaints against a company or organization, especially a public authority - Noun
- Synonyms - authority, court
- Example - As ombudsman, I have no authority to order a correction.
3) Scrutinised (छानबीन) - Screw-t-nize-ed
- Meaning - examine or inspect closely and thoroughly - Verb
- Synonyms - survey, inspect
- Example - Do not sign your name on any document you have not had time to scrutinize!
4) Subset (सबसेट) - Sab-set
- Meaning - a part of a larger group of related things - Noun
- Synonyms - subdivision, batch
- Antonyms - whole, everything
- Example - This is one way to create a subset of data for June.
5) Compliance (अनुपालन) - Com-ply-ance
- Meaning - the action or fact of complying with a wish or command - Noun
- Synonyms - conformity, consent
- Antonyms - difference, refusal
- Example - Since the restaurant is not in compliance with food safety laws, it will be closed down until the owner can bring it up to code.
6) Frivolous (तुच्छ) - Fri-vol-ous
- Meaning - not having any serious purpose or value - Adjective
- Synonyms - joking, senseless
- Antonyms - intelligent, wise
- Example - My mother often spends her monthly pension on frivolous purchases she never uses.
7) Generic (सामान्य) - Gen-eric
- Meaning - characteristic of or relating to a class or group of things; not specific - Adjective
- a consumer product having no brand name or registered trademark - Noun
- Synonyms - universal, blanket
- Antonyms - exclusive, individual
- Example - The generic term is derived from the Arabic Ouaran.
8) Footing (आधार) - Foot-ing
- Meaning - the basis on which something is established or operates - Noun
- Synonyms - foothold, base
- Antonyms - top
- Example - The muddy footing undoubtedly made it look worse than it was.
9) Momentum (संवेग) - Mo-men-tum
- Meaning - the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity - Noun
- Synonyms - energy, power
- Antonyms - lethargy, weakness
- Example (English) - A judo fighter uses the opponent's weight and momentum to throw him or her to the floor.
- Example (Hindi) - जूडो का लड़ाका अपने विरोधी के ही वजन और आवेग के प्रयोग से उसे चित्त कर देता है।
Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension question, try to answer the following -
- What are the main feature of the bill? Does it address all the concerns of the HIV affected people?
- Critically comment on the provisions of the HIV Bill, recently approved by the Union cabinet.
Given below are some words to check your vocabulary you can make sentences with those words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
- Violations
- Inquiries
- Rapid
- Intervention