Photo exhibition to humanize AIDS, reduce stigma
Aug 22, 2008 - 6:41:56 PM
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The exhibition venue was chosen to draw attention of thousands of daily commuters who use the Delhi Metro towards the message, he said.
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By IANS,
[RxPG]
New Delhi, Aug 22 - Vividly depicting the lives of sex workers, trans-genders, drug users and truck drivers afflicted by the HIV/AIDS virus, a unique photo exhibition opened Friday seeking to humanise - and reduce discrimination against - the global scourge.
The 15-day exhibition, organised at the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station by Avahan - India's AIDS initiative of Bill and Melinda Gates, was inaugurated by Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss.
Ramadoss pointed out that after 18 years, India's AIDS control programme has started showing results.
He said it was the stigma emanating from personal beliefs that needed to be tackled to prevent discrimination against those infected by the HIV virus.
'From the beginning, Avahan recognized that tackling these structural issues was more important than creating awareness alone,' said Ramadoss.
Reaffirming what he said at the 17th International Conference on Aids in Mexico City, he said: 'India has a population group of 2.3 million, which fall in the category of males having sex with males -.'
'In order to intervene in this crucial segment, access is needed and Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code - makes this difficult. If the Section goes, it will also help a great deal in de-stigmatization,' the minister said.
The photo exhibition captures the groups 'most at risk' from HIV/AIDS, sex workers, their clients, injecting drug users, MSMs and transvestites.
The photos illustrate the chapters of a book 'AIDS Sutra', a collection of 16 real life stories and were photographed by Prashant Panjiar.
Ramadoss formally released the book, which has contributions from writers like Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, Vikram Seth, Sunil Ganguly, Mukul Kesavan, C.S. Lakshmi and Amit Chaudhury. Economist Amartya Sen has written the foreword.
Avahan's country director Ashok Alexander told IANS: 'The exhibition is an attempt to humanize the epidemic and remind us that we all can play a role in reducing discrimination.'
'The denial and apathy about AIDS creates the false sense that India's morality will protect it from AIDS but this further leads to discrimination,' he said.
The exhibition venue was chosen to draw attention of thousands of daily commuters who use the Delhi Metro towards the message, he said.
Though some commuters said they felt good that issues like AIDS were finally being spoken about openly, there were still others who left without a double take as they were unable to understand the English captions of the photos.
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