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Ramadoss champions gay rights
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ASIANAGE on 08 August, 2008 02:49:54
 
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi
Aug. 8: The homosexual community has found a friend in Union health minister
Anbumani Ramadoss, who has expressed strong support for deletion of Section 377
of the Indian Penal Code.
Favouring rights of homosexuals, Dr Ramadoss has sought removal of provisions
of the IPC which classify sex between two men as a criminal offence. Under the
IPC, sex between two men is considered "unnatural".
"Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises men who have sex with men, must
go," said Dr Ramadoss at the 17th International Conference on AIDS in Mexico
City.
The Delhi high court is hearing a petition by a non-governmental organisation
that has challenged arrests under the IPC section. Though the health ministry
has supported their call to remove the law, the home ministry is opposing it.
Dr Ramadoss said structural discrimination against those who are vulnerable to
HIV, such as sex workers and men having sex with men, must be removed for the
success of prevention, care and treatment programmes. The minister informed the
gathering that India’s dedicated focus on HIV prevention "is fetching
dividends".
"We are seeing the beginning of stabilisation of HIV epidemic in India," the
minister said, adding that India should not be "complacent". He informed India
has about 2.5 million HIV infected people and many states have started recording
a stabilisation of the epidemic.
Dr Ramadoss said India’s targeted HIV intervention approach, which relies on
strong community participation, has resulted in larger numbers of people
accessing HIV prevention, treatment and care services.
However, the minister informed that new hotspots are emerging in northern
India, particularly in rural interiors, which are home migrants who work outside
their states in the country’s economic hubs like Mumbai and Surat.
National AIDS Control Organisation director-general Sujatha Rao said
initiatives that address the unique needs of migrants must be immediately
launched to avert a potential rise of HIV infections among them.