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Getting AIDS Education on Track in India
"We had a session on AIDS in school once, but . . . I still do not know the difference between HIV and AIDS," says Ravindri Chaudhury, left.
(By Rama Lakshmi -- The Washington Posts)
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"The train will force people to face the issue head-on," Rao said. "There is still a lot of denial about AIDS in our society."
This year, protests erupted in several parts of the country over adolescent sex education manuals for schoolteachers. Critics said the flip charts in the manual contained explicit images of male and female reproductive systems, conception and contraception. They said the training program was irresponsible, encouraging sex in the guise of spreading AIDS awareness and promoting condom use.
Condom promotion has always been a difficult issue in India. AIDS officials tread cautiously by offering the ABC strategy -- "abstinence," "being faithful" and "condom use."
The government withdrew the teacher training program and ordered a review. Rao said a new manual that addresses "cultural sensitivities" will be out in January.
"You start talking about HIV, and it is the quickest way to lose an audience in India," said Ashok Alexander, director of Avahan, founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Avahan works with 6 million people from high-risk groups. "We pretend to be more moral than others, even though studies show the high prevalence of concurrent sexual relationships," Alexander said, speaking of Indian society in general. "We act as if our morality is an invisible condom."
The national AIDS organization has pledged the equivalent of almost $3 billion over the next five years for programs such as public education, blood safety, condom promotion and antiretroviral therapy.
On Day 2 of its journey, the train pulled into Alwar, about 85 miles south of New Delhi, where folk performers in colorful turbans sang about AIDS, calling it a "new danger in the country."
People pushed into the train to examine an array of interactive push-button exhibits, touch-screen information monitors and films. One rail car had been transformed into a counseling center, where visitors asked questions in curtained privacy.
Dhuli Chand, a 40-year-old mason, turned up on his bicycle out of curiosity.
"I heard there was a disease called AIDS only two years ago, when I bought a TV for my home. But I do not know anything else," said Chand, who left school after the 10th grade. He lives with his wife and son and says he has never used a condom.
After hearing the singers and spending an hour looking at the exhibits, he slipped into the counseling room and asked about causes, testing and treatment. He also got a demonstration of condom use.
After he disembarked, Chand pondered what he'd heard. "I think I will get myself tested soon," he said. "Just to be safe."
