New Delhi, July 06: Homosexuality is not a disease but a personal sexual orientation, UNAIDS said today, disagreeing with Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s remarks on the subject.
“Consistent with WHO’s disease classification, UNAIDS does not regard homosexuality as a disease. There is no place for stigma and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe said in a statement here.
At a convention on HIV/AIDS, Azad had yesterday said that “the disease of ‘Men having Sex with Men’ (MSM), which was found more in the developed world, has now unfortunately come to our country and there is a substantial number of such people in India”.
Though the UNAIDS statement does not make any mention of the Health Minister or his remarks, Sidibe lauded efforts by India’s National AIDS programme to provide HIV services for men who have sex with men and transgender people.
He said, “India’s rich tradition of inclusivity and social justice must include men who have sex with men and transgender people.”
Azad was found missing at the concluding ceremony of the two-day conference today.
The minister’s remarks has drawn flak from the gay community and activists working in the field.
“India’s successful AIDS response has been possible due to the strong participation of communities of men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs and transgender people backed by a strong and progressive National AIDS policy,” Sidibe said.
“Currently around 67 per cent men who have sex with men in India are accessing prevention services. According to estimates of the National AIDS Control Organisation, there are more than four lakh men who have sex with men in India; HIV prevalence in this population is about 7.3 per cent compared to a national adult HIV prevalence of 0.31 per cent,” he said.
Azad had said, “Even though it (homosexuality among men) is unnatural, it exists in our country and is now fast spreading, making it tough for its detection.”
He had also maintained at the AIDS convention that “with relationships changing, men are having sex with men now. Though it is easy to find women sex workers and educate them on sex, it is a challenge to find MSM.”
–PTI–