Regarding HIV in India

[jackofallgeeks]

This article talks about a boy who was kicked out of school (well, 'sent home and told to never come back') because he was HIV-positive. And apparently it's not the first time, nor isolated incidents. There's apparently at least one (I would imagine several) school specifically for HIV-positive children.

My response: What? Why? Last I heard, you couldn't get HIV from proximity or touch. It's not communicated except through bodily fluids, right? So why kick a four-year old to the street?

Comments

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

There's still a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about HIV/AIDS out there (e.g., South Africa's health minister claiming that it can be cured with garlic and beetroot). And there's still also a lot of shame associated with the disease in many places (I put together some materials on protection of HIV/AIDS workers in India a few years ago for Amnesty; they're often targets of attack b/c the disease is seen as connected with homosexuality and other kinds of perceived sexual deviance).

So, basically, ::shrug::