Sri Lanka: AIDS Victims Fight Discrimination

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Sri Lanka: AIDS Victims Fight Discrimination

IPS Wire (12/30/97)

Abstract: Following a series of discriminatory incidents against people with HIV in 1987, a number of non-governmental agencies in Sri Lanka joined together to form the Coalition to Protect the Rights of People Living with HIV and AIDS. The Coalition recently began soliciting public support and donations for the formation of a trust fund to help people infected with the virus. Sri Lankan society tends to frown upon people with HIV/AIDS, in large part because most people remain largely ignorant of the virus and its transmission. Sri Lanka has far fewer AIDS cases than the rest of Asia--government doctors report there have been 75 recorded AIDS cases since 1987--but the incidence of infection is expected to increase over the next few years. According to projections by the United Nations, Sri Lanka could have nearly 80,000 cases of HIV infection by the year 2005, with an HIV prevalence rate of 0.54 percent among people aged 15 to 64. Dr. Hemamal Jayawardene, a local official for UNAIDS, says the groups most at risk are Sri Lanka's 12,000 commercial sex workers, migrant workers, and prisoners. Dr. Sujata Samarakoon of the government's Sexually Transmitted Diseases center adds that officials are making concerted efforts to fight the virus through a state-operated National AIDS Committee that participates in conjunction with NGOs.

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