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INTERVIEW - Mr. Jagdish
Anand, Secretary General, SNS Foundation |
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| "Public-private partnerships need a critical
mass to succeed." |
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| What do you feel about the gravity of HIV/AIDS
epidemic in India? |
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| The HIV/AIDS epidemic situation in India is indeed grave.
If projections are to be believed, we are soon going to cross
the 4 million mark. |
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| I feel sad that only one generation has been able to live
in security after having eradicated the small pox epidemic.
The present generation faces the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the possibility
of losing loved ones, friends and neighbours to it. |
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| How do you see the future of India in the
context of an expanding epidemic? |
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| Well, I see in the mirror of the future, many children with
at least one parent lost if not both, grandparents looking after
surviving grandchildren, shortage of workforce in factories
and long absenteeism due to illness in the family. |
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| The epidemic affects the most productive age group and its
spread would mean loss of human resources. If it spreads unchecked,
corporations will be paying double and getting half the hours
of work-input. |
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| What do you think needs to be done expeditiously? |
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| Intensive campaigns - like marketing campaigns
of Coke and Pepsi - should be employed to reach the remotest
of villages with services and information about HIV/AIDS. |
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| Emphasis must be given both to treatment/care
and prevention. |
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| Anti- retroviral treatment drugs must be made available at
the most affordable prices. |
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| What role can the private/corporate sector
play to help fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic? |
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| We can sensitise each other as co-members of the corporate
world to stand united with the world in its fight against the
spread of the virus. The corporate world should make a commitment
to get every employee understand the contours and implications
of the spread of the epidemic - not only in terms of loss of
loved ones, but also in terms of its effects on the economy.
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| Are Indian companies demonstrating sufficient
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in HIV/AIDS? |
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| No, Indian companies are not doing enough. CSR is about being
right-centred in your heart, not just intellectually and in
words. The lack of motivation to get to know all about HIV/AIDS,
by one who is looked up to as a corporate leader, shows a lack
of responsibility to ones own family, let alone distant workers
and nation. |
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| Has your organisation undertaken any HIV-related
initiative. If yes, could you please elaborate? |
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| We are still struggling with how to word it,
but we have established a database of morbidity and health profiles
of families of our workers to rule out tuberculosis. |
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| We also have mental health interventions by a medical team
trained in BCC (Behaviour Change Communication) activities.
Our Foundation's experience with 3,500 industrial workers has
thrown up a lot issues and lessons about mental health of employees
due to family and work related pressures, substance abuse, lack
of access to contraceptives and peer pressure. |
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| We intend launching a large programme for all
Anand Group employees, and migrant labourers in towns where
we have our Foundation's community work in progress. |
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| Do you have any immediate plans on HIV-related
work? |
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| We have launched a pilot project in Parwanoo, a town in the
state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Based on the response, the
project will be upscaled to all our Anand Group locations. We
are hoping that Anand work-force will emerge to become the push
force for local industrial associations to initiate industrial
workforce programmes. |
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| Our Mulund office has been identified as the
lead organisation for identifying high-risk pockets in Mumbai
by Avert. |
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| We are engaged as an RCH (Reproductive Child Health) mother
NGO in Himachal Pradesh's four districts. HIV will be an integral
part of the RCH service delivery strategy. |
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| What should corporates/public sector do
to help the campaign against HIV/AIDS? |
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| They must drive the policy for all industries
to support treatment, care and prevention, promote voluntary
testing and be fair in their hiring procedures. Corporate human
resource management in India must be fully conversant with the
legal provisions and Supreme Court directives with regard to
testing of prospective employees for HIV. |
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| Health and social education through inter-peer
group competitions would bring in a lot of positive energy among
workers. We intend going strong on this for all our volunteer
programmes. |
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| In your opinion, what can public-private
partnerships do to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS?
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| Partnerships need to be developed between the public and the
private sector by illustrating the 'whys,' 'hows' and for 'whom'
of the cause. |
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| Actively involved corporations have the advantage of attracting
media, schools, public at large, NGOs and other industries or
business houses. Partnerships become successful only when there
is a critical mass to see, touch, feel and emulate. |
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| About
Jagdish Anand |
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