HIV/Aids and Human Rights: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

HIV/AIDS, are the scariest words in our present day dictionary that makes us turn the page and look away. Twenty years after the first clinical evidence of AIDS was reported, it has become the most devastating disease human kind has ever faced. HIV/AIDS is the fourth biggest cause of death world-wide. HIV continues to spread throughout the world, shadowed by increasing challenges to human rights, at both national and global levels. The virus continues to be marked by discrimination against population groups: those who live on the fringes of society or who are assumed to be at risk of infection because of behaviors, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or social characteristics that are stigmatized in a particular society. As the number of people living with HIV and with AIDS continues to grow in nations with different economies, social structures, and legal systems, HIV/AIDS-related human rights issues are not only becoming more apparent, but also becoming increasingly diverse. This paper highlights the human rights issues of victims of HIV/AIDS. What is the current position and what needs to be done to combat with one of our biggest enemy today?