JOIN USBook calls for renewed efforts to eradicate AIDS
An expert who has helped battle HIV-AIDS is worried the disease is no longer getting the attention it deserves.
J V R Prasada Rao, a Bengaluru-based IAS officer who retired in 2004, has just published a book on the subject. It took him all of 2019 to write.
“This Covid pandemic will be over in a year or two, but AIDS is going to stay for the next few years, as there is no vaccine or cure,” he says, explaining why Covid does not find a mention in his book ‘Celebrating Small Victories.’
Populations affected by AIDS didn’t even get social support grants in 2020 as they were diverted to migrants, he says.
The book suggests ways to refocus, and the ultimate victory is to end AIDS, he told Metrolife.
HIV AIDS is no longer priority as the number of deaths has gone down, thanks to antiretroviral treatment. “Many are able to go back to their work and lead healthy lives, but they are not cured. They are dependent on medicines for their entire lives. Also, new people are still getting infected,” he says.
UN AIDS is eager to show that they are on the path of ending the virus by 2030, but that is sending out a wrong message, Prasada says.
The book, priced at Rs 600 and published by Notion Press, Chennai, is aimed mainly at young public health students.
“Karnataka was a state that worked along with many other states and did good work back then. However, due to lack of priority, NGOs have stopped getting funds,” he says.
Support from the government should continue, he urges.
Book’s contents
What inspired him to write the book? “For a civil servant, it’s rare to work in a particular sector for so long. I was posted as director of the National AIDS Control Programme by the government of India in 1997. The epidemic was at its peak in the country then,” he recalls.
Prasada thought it would help to document his experiences in a book.
He was also UN Secretary-General special envoy on AIDS in Asia Pacific and former health secretary, government of India.