On 11 December 2013, the streets outside the Supreme Court of India thronged with a dazed crowd, hugging, sobbing and not quite sure what had happened. Inside the hushed courtroom, the judges had just passed a devastating ruling. Lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) in India had once again b

The landscape of some urban areas of India still carves out a niche inhabited by people ignorant of celebrations of Christmas. Recently a young lady from the locality “Dhaniram ka Purwa”, an area in Faizabad district of UP was puzzled on being asked about her forthcoming plans on Christmas. The ques

(This article is based upon a CNS interview with Professor (Dr) Dilip Mathai, Dean, Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research)
HIV in today's context is a chronic condition of the human immune system. HIV is a retrovirus and the infection leads to a progressive reduction in the number of CD

Some days ago, somebody sent me a list of questions and requested me to respond to them. They were mostly related to what can be called ‘inherited’ and ‘culture-based’ religiosity.
Most people, the questioner began, blindly follow the religion into which they were born. This applies to both most n

AIDS is just one of the manifestations of HIV, said a veteran health advocate. A range of co-infections and co-morbidities also need as much attention as AIDS-related treatment and care. HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection was in spotlight at the 6th National Conference of AIDS Society of I

The human right to live without terror is, without doubt, an urgent need of our times. From the First World War till now, a great number of charters and declarations of this nature have been issued by different international forums, including the United Nations. But, as we know, these charters and d

My name is Rashid. I was a commander of a fanatic movement, who was planning either convert back or wipe out Muslim converts to Christianity in India and other Asian countries. Some of our operations were great success.
We came to know about Pastor Paul Ciniraj, a former Muslim and the group of his

An estimated 3.4 million children are living with HIV, thus accounting for 10% of the total global HIV infected population. At the same time, the number of children newly infected with HIV dropped drastically by 52% between 2001 and 2012. And yet as per the UNAIDS Global Report 2013 currently only 3

To tackle any disease it is not merely only diagnosing correctly and offering quality treatment but ensuring that the patients adhere to treatment that is of paramount importance. Timely and correct diagnosis and availability of standard, evidence-based and effective treatment cannot be of much help

Nearly three years of bloody civil war in Syria have created what the United Nations, governments and international humanitarian organizations describe as the most challenging refugee crisis in a generation bigger than the one unleashed by the Rwandan genocide and laden with the sectarianism of the

Although historic scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is keeping people living with HIV (PLHIV) alive, 1 in 10 of them succumb to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). “The good news is that survival of PLHIV has improved, but CVD is increasingly becoming one of the important causes of morbidity and

One size does not fit all. Likewise we need an expanded basket of evidence-based interventions and approaches to meet the unique needs and contexts of different key affected populations to prevent HIV. Deliberations on the first day of the 6th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 201

(All the characters of JAGDALPUR are products of the author’s imagination. Resemblance to any person or place is coincidental. CHHATTISGARH SERIES: JAGDALPUR is about the macabre rituals of witchcraft, Maharaja Pravir, the prophecies concerning Kohinoor, and a legend that ties Kohinoor to Lord Krish

A young man from Delhi had to get to Mumbai to appear for an interview for a job abroad. He had booked a berth in a train. On the day of his departure, he left his home for the railway station in a rickshaw. It so happened that some boys threw stones at the rickshaw. At this, the young man’s friend,

On one hand the new mantra of ‘zero new HIV infections, zero deaths and zero AIDS-related stigma and discrimination by 2015’ is increasing decibels and on another hand Indian AIDS response is dealing with a complex matrix of challenges impeding programme outcomes. To compound the situation there are