The Indian Health Organization projected the number of deaths per day due to AIDS by the year 2000 at 10,000. An interdisciplinary international conference was held in New Delhi to draft an international law governing the issues related to AIDS. Human freedom and public health policies are the most affected by this disease. In the absence of an international AIDS law, judicial verdicts set precedents and could have serious ramifications. A participant from the John Marshall Law School, Chicago, suggested that instead of making new laws, the existing ones from the colonial past should be repealed. This includes Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which provides criminal sanctions against those who indulge in unnatural relations with man, woman, or animal. Penalizing homosexuality will only perpetuate clandestine relations and spread the virus into their families. Another participant seconded this motion stating that even a sex worker must be protected from abuse and indignity. The National AIDS Control Organization responded to the criticism that the government had not utilized all the World Bank funds allocated for anti-AIDS projects. The trends of the epidemic were the most important indicators not just the numbers. In Manipur and Mizoram, infection was almost entirely due to injecting drug use. The Saheli project undertaken in the red-light areas of Bombay encompassed brothel owners and prostitutes, which could be replicated in other areas. Because existing government policies were focusing on prevention, there was no protection of an HIV-infected individual's privacy, one participant from Madras stated. The confidentiality issue was also echoed by a US participant. The New Delhi Declaration and Action Plan on HIV/AIDS was also discussed. It forbids discrimination in employment, education, housing, health care, social security, travel, and marital and reproductive rights. Providing sterile needles and ensuring the safety of the blood supply were other concerns mentioned.
The president of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics has issued a statement denouncing gender violence manifested by selective abortion of female fetuses, female genital mutilation, and domestic violence. The practice of sex selection has led to an artificial reduction in the number of females in the world on the order of 60-100 million. Son preference is fueled by customs such as the son carrying on the family name, providing old-age security for his parents, and bringing a dowry into the family upon marriage. In parts of India, women are killed (most commonly in kitchen fires) if their dowries are not paid or if subsequent demands for more money are not met. Survey results indicate that 78% of obstetricians would perform prenatal sex tests and that parents who opted for such testing included upper middle class professionals. The law banning sex selection in India is unlikely to be implemented until late 1996. Upon implementation, unwanted baby girls will be at risk of infanticide or death through neglect.
Smallpox has been eradicated through the administration of vaccines. Polio could be the next vaccine-preventable disease to be eradicated. The year 2000 has been set for the global eradication of polio. The UNICEF Progress of Nations 1996 reports that more than 80% of the world's children are being immunized against the polio virus, and the annual number of cases has been reduced from 400,000 in 1980 to 90,000 in the mid 1990s. The fixed day, fixed site core strategy of the immunization program has helped to establish a regular contact between the community and the service provider. In this approach, the facility, date, and time of the immunization session in each area is fixed and widely publicized through wall paintings, display boards, pamphlets, and word of mouth. Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) has met with considerable success in both its implementation and social mobilization. Immunization coverage levels are low in some Indian states, especially for female children, and also in some rural areas.
The 3rd World Congress and 11th Indian Conference on Family Welfare and Voluntary Sterilization and Family Welfare of India (NAVSFWI) was held at Hotel Clarks Shiraj, Agra, during September 20-22, 1996. At the conference, R.V. Bhatt, the newly elected president of NAVSFWI, expressed a need to look for alternative methods of female sterilization, such as quinacrine, because of the risks involved with surgical approaches. Dr. Bhatt added that quinacrine use as an alternative to surgical sterilization is safe, cheap, effective, and worthy of further trials, especially in rural areas, where surgery is not readily available. Dr. Elton Kessel, Secretary General of the International Federation for Family Health, stresses that no country has reduced population growth below 1% without the widespread use of both sterilization and abortion, together with other contraceptive methods. Quinacrine sterilization could satisfy much of the considerable unmet need for sterilization in India.
While some investigators are optimistic about such new contraceptive agents as injectable male hormonal contraceptives (clinical trials involve weekly injections of 50 mg or 100 mg testosterone), other researchers feel that the research portfolio is shrinking. New barrier methods undergoing tests include the Femcap (cervical cap); Lea's Shield, which has a one-way valve to allow the outward flow of mucus and menses but block the inward flow of sperm; and a new kind of sponge. Contraceptive vaginal rings may be available within five years, and research into vaccine development continues. A frameless IUD, consisting of a nonbiodegradable thread and copper rings, is undergoing trials sponsored by the World Health Organization.
