AIDS at the margin: Experiences and lessons from marginalized groups in India (Part II)

摘要

The lived experiences of women in rural areas, homosexual men, and injecting drug users (IDUs) attest to the drastic need to empower these marginalized groups to mount an effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Indeed, health policy-makers and doctors must address the socioeconomic roots of the epidemic. These solutions fall into two broad categories: mobilization of society and rural development. The self-help groups, support networks and grassroots-level interventions described in the previous article (Natl Med J India 2009;22:98-100) have certainly raised awareness among marginalized groups and empowered them to flourish despite the adverse circumstances created by HIV infection. However, these efforts will only result in incremental gains, because they are merely ways for the destitute to cope with their circumstances. They do not address the root cause of those circumstances, namely the socioeconomic forces that marginalize people and worsen the lot of HIV-positive individuals in the first place. Eradicating these forces requires mobilizing all of society to fundamentally change the cultural, economic and social landscape.