Wednesday, December 3, 2008

AIDS Sutra -- Some Interesting Narratives


This was the basis for one very interesting narrative in the book.

From the Lancet:

In the "Dr. Tokugha vs. Apollo Hospital Enterprises" case, the Indian Supreme Court suspended the right to marry of persons who are infected with HIV. Tokugha Yepthomi sued the Apollo Hospital after the hospital revealed his positive HIV status, which was discovered when he donated blood to the hospital; the disclosure caused the cancellation of his upcoming marriage and resulted in his embarrassment and ostracism by the community.

Because the potential bride had been "saved" by the disclosure, Justices Saghir Ahmad and B. N. Kirpal rejected his claim that his right to confidentiality had been violated and ruled against his claim for damages. According to legal activist Shobba Agarwal, the judgment violates a person's right to privacy and confidentiality without establishing any guidelines. Agarwal also said that the judge's statement concerning AIDS as the product of undisciplined sexual impulses shows a lack of AIDS education awareness.

The good doctor Toku was not aware of his condition when he offered to donate blood for the kinsman, who was about to undergo surgery. So the hospital took it upon themselves to inform the relative and, perhaps, every passing stranger in the ward, but not the doctor himself. Toku found out, only much later, thanks to this same kinsman with a perverse sense of drama.

In the judge's mind, is every HIV-positive man a cad who will not disclose his condition to his future wife? Could that be a reason for them to condone the hospital's gross violation of privacy?
I cannot believe I have not heard this story before.

2 comments:

Saee said...

This is indeed shocking. It is true however that being HIV positive in India is somehow a sign of bad character.
It is ironic though that India is one of the worst hit countries as far as AIDS is concerned. So much so that even when healthy Indian nationals want to donate blood in Australia, they have to go through a "quarantine" period everytime they come back from a holiday!
I think everything that India has tried to supress has been her cause of concern.
Nice post!

Pipa said...

Saee -- the preface to the book is written by Amartya Sen. So you can imagine how clearly he has spelt out the problem.

Society's refusal to acknowledge that the problem exists and come to terms with it is unbelivable.