Articles
Issue of Right to Accessible and Affordable Treatment
August 2002
In light of the fact that the issue of right to accessible and affordable treatment has come to the forefront due to HIV/AIDS.
Julie George reviews the Venezuelan judgment on the issue.
The right to health and life, guaranteed by most Constitutions across the world and reiterated by international documents, has emerged as an important issue in the HIV/AIDS scenario. This is all the more so because of the ongoing extensive research and development for a cure for AIDS, which when invented will save the lives of millions across the world. But millions of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will not live to access it until the anti-retroviral therapy available in the market today is made available to them so that they can live longer. Read more
The Indian Medical Council Regulations 2002
July 2002
THE INDIAN MEDICAL COUNCIL REGULATIONS 2002: NON-APPLICATION OF MIND & SPIRIT
By Vivek Divan
6.6 Human Rights: The physician shall not aid or abet torture nor shall he be a party to either infliction of mental or physical trauma or concealment of torture inflicted by some other person or agency in clear violation of human rights.? This is the manner in which the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 [passed under Sections 20A and 33(m) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956] defines ?Human Rights?. No wonder, then, that the regulations fall terribly short of reflecting a human rights sensibility in its provisions.Read more
Mandatory Testing HIV/AIDS and Marriage
May 2002
Mandatory Testing, HIV/AIDS and Marriage - Discordant Bedfellows?
Tripti Tandon
Recently, there have been significant developments regarding law and policy in the context of HIV/AIDS, which have revived the debate around mandatory testing. In January 2002, the Goa Government announced that it was considering making HIV testing compulsory for couples before registration of marriages. Similar recommendations have been made by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to amend the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA) and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA).Read more
Transgender Law and Civil Rights
April 2002
Alok Gupta
A brief telephone interview with Munir (name changed), a transgender activist.
Q. Did you face any kind of problems when you tried to access medical services for sex reassignment surgery (SRS)?
Ans. I approached a well-known hospital in Delhi, on my own, seeking SRS from female to male. I found that the surgeons lacked experience and basic information in terms of protocols, as there had been no precedent for them to follow.Read more
Silent Cries and Hidden Tears
February 2002
Veena Johari
"Every day more than 8,000 people die of AIDS. Every hour, almost 600 people become infected. Every minute, a child dies of the virus" - Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the United Nations.
No war, no natural disaster, no other disease in the history of mankind has claimed as many lives as the human immuno deficiency virus (HIV). This little virus has boggled the minds of scientists for over two decades, has created social, economic crisis in countries most affected by the virus, and created a generation of orphan children. Children who are both infected and affected by the virus, children who are most vulnerable to the virus, children who have lost a childhood of schools and playmates, children who have burdened their little shoulders with work, who have been exploited into begging and prostitution. Read more