World AIDS Day

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It was World AIDS Day on first December. In fact, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. The theme for World AIDS Day (2007-08) was “Lead – Empower -Deliver”. It was promoted with the campaigning slogan, “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise”.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS is a medical condition that is caused when the virus, called Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), infects a healthy body.

“The concept of a World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention. Since then, every year UN agencies, governments and all sectors of civil society worldwide join together to campaign around specific themes related to AIDS.”

AIDS was first reported in 1981 in the United States (in homosexual men in Los Angeles); it is believed to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa.

A recent study states that HIV probably moved from Africa to Haiti, and then around 1969, entered the United States. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), extensive spread of HIV appears to have begun in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The disease did not have a name then. And the general press called it GRID, which stood for Gay-related immune deficiency. But the disease infected both men and women alike. Therefore, in 1982 a new name was coined. It was called AIDS.

– A for Acquired, means that, the disease develops after birth from contact with a disease causing agent (HIV). It is not hereditary.

– ID for Immunodeficiency, means that, the disease is characterised by a weakening of the immune system. In other words, the system in human body which fights diseases is weakened.

– S for Syndrome refers to, a group of symptoms that collectively indicate the disease, where in the infected human body will have a group of health problems.

In 2007, an estimated 33.2 million people lived with the disease worldwide, and it killed an estimated 2.1 million people, including 330,000 children.

According to our National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), out of a total of 27,332 people who committed suicide due to illness, 952 had AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

Among AIDS or STD patients who committed suicide, 334 were women. The maximum number of people who took their life in this category was in the age group of 30 to 44 years.

Seven boys and three girls below 14 years also “committed suicide” as they had AIDS or STD, the report said.

There is still no report of a complete cure for AIDS. But the AIDS stigma around the world is something that can be worked upon and cured too.

Article 49 -O

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This is an e-mail that has come to me as part of a forward. But it means a lot.

“It’s important that all citizens of this country should be aware of this provision in our constitution.

Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969 act, in section “49-O” that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the to the presiding election officer that he doesn’t want to vote anyone!

Why should you go and say “I VOTE NOBODY”… because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received “49-O” votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people had already expressed their decision on them. This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way, of our whole political system… it is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public….

Please spread this news to as many as you know… Seems to be a wonderful weapon against corrupt parties in India… show your power, expressing your desire not to vote for anybody, is even more powerful than voting… so don’t miss your chance. So either vote, or vote not to vote (vote 49-O) and pass this info on…

Use your voting right for a better INDIA.”

Tourism With A Difference

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India has a special place in “the must visit list” world over. Today it has also become one of the favourite destinations of medical tourism.

The developing concept of health tourism, better known as medical tourism, is a wonderful package deal that takes care of the medical and relaxation needs of people (patients) travelling to India.

They travel all the way to get a knee transplant, undergo a heart surgery, correct their looks with cosmetic surgery or prepare for dental care.

The reasons are simple: India has some of the best hospitals, treatment centres and facilities. Not only this, our infrastructure and technology is at par with the west. Also the treatment provided are cost effective, ensuring critical cases have less waiting time.

For instance, a joint replacement surgery in the US would have cost a stupendous $50,000 while the same could be done for only $8000 in India.

In fact surrogate mothers in India are also a much sought after section as the total cost including the air tickets and hotels for two trips to India (one for the fertilisation and a second to collect the baby) comes to around $25,000, “roughly a third of the typical price in the United States.”

According to a news report, “Reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding enterprise in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe in recent months, as word spreads of India’s combination of skilled medical professionals, relatively liberal laws and low prices.

Commercial surrogacy, which is banned in some European countries and subject to a wide spectrum of regulation in US states, was legalised in India in 2002.”

Thus, with the Israeli gay couple having a baby, by a Mumbai-based surrogate mother, it is clear that medical tourism has solutions for the needy in the west.

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Surrogacy succour for gay couples

Tue, Nov 18 02:15 AM

LESS THAN a year ago, Omer and Yonathan Gher dropped a rose in to the Arabian Sea with a silent prayer, just as a fortune teller had told them to do. The Israeli gay couple’s prayers were answered on Monday as they boarded a flight home with a son in their arms – a month after he was born to a surrogate mother at Mumbai’s Hiranandani Hospital.

“I couldn’t believe my luck when the doctor called from India announcing that we were pregnant,” said Yonathan, 30, a social activist. The gay couple had been living together for seven years and desperately wanted a child, but the laws in Israel did not allow them to adopt or beget one through a surrogate mother.

So they decided to come to India to find a surrogate mother. “There are two options – India and the US,” said Omer, 31, a psychiatrist.

“We chose India because it was cheaper and our money would help a woman here much more than elsewhere.” The Ghers are among numerous gay couples coming India to look for surrogate mothers.

“Last year, India saw the first case of surrogacy to a gay couple from Israel,” said Dr Gautam Allahbadia, IVF consultant who facilitated the procedure. “Since then, we’ve been flooded with similar requests, although we have to turn back some couples because of laws in their countries.

http://www.in.news.yahoo.com