Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS
Posted: 2008-01-14

The recent news of the arrest of two members of a certain non-government organisation, NGO, working in the area of HIV/AIDS alleviation, has brought to full public view the underbelly of this sector of social work once more. The concerned NGO went about testing the blood samples of minor children without consulting or taking prior permission of their parents, ostensibly to boost up the number of HIV positive children in their scanner, for then under the existing funding schemes of various funding agencies, they would be entitled to get more. This is pertinent, as one of the programmes in the campaign against HIV/AIDS, according to social workers in the field, is precisely for these NGOs to furnish funds to parents for meeting the expenses incurred in the treatment of children with the virus, hence the greater the number of children each NGO detects, the greater would also be the funds they become eligible to seek from the funding agencies. Perhaps the whole exercise is short of being sinister, but definitely it reeks of cynicism all over. These NGOs if they are indeed guilty of what has been alleged against them – and we have strong reasons to believe they are – were trying to make a quick buck unethically, which is an offence, but not as dark as direct murder. That is to say, their action may or may not result in murder ultimately, but the intent was definitely not murder but filthy lucre once again.

One black sheep does not make the whole flock black, but it definitely can tarnish the overall image of the entire community severely. This is a danger, for there can be no doubt there are so many other NGOs who are doing sincere work in the area, coming up with helpful data for strategists in the ongoing worldwide battle, and in the process also instilling confidence to those unfortunate victims of the virus that they have not been forsaken by one and all in the society. This confidence was reflected in the manner bodybuilder Kh Pradeepkumar, a man who came to know he had the virus in the year 2000, was able to battle on without losing heart to win the Mr. Manipur title seven years latter on December 31, 2007. The consequence of what the few black sheep have done however is not limited to this individual programme of identifying and helping children whose blood have tested positive of the HIV. It has in fact managed to reinforce a long standing and nagging doubt on the figures that are already available in the state’s HIV/AIDS files. Diehard sceptics have always doubted that the AIDS scare in the state has as much cause to worry as is being made out to be, and that much of the data regarding it had been generated on paper to build up a case where there isn’t any – or at least make a mountain out of a molehill – so that a healthy slice of the generous international funds available to fight the pandemic lands in the hands of all shades of vested interests.

An offence has been detected, but it would be counterproductive to throw away the baby with the bath water. The bad apple must be segregated from the good ones, and a damage control exercise put in place. It is good to see the NGO community working on issues related to the pandemic has come out strongly against the case. Surely they are appalled by the way their vocation has been shamed. They must now evolve not just a moral code, which perhaps is in existence already, but also an enforcement mechanism to ensure that this code is held in awe and esteem amongst them all. We also see absolutely no reason why an unhealthy competition should be encouraged, for this is one area where they can all coordinate to the best benefit of all of them, and more importantly of the victims. But since it is certain that such competitions do exist, as we have said before, perhaps an independent monitor has become vital. We again confess we are not too educated on the matter and perhaps there is already a monitoring mechanism at work. But if this is so, it is more than evident from what has happened, that the need now is to equip this monitor with more powers to take care that such unethical practices are effectively eliminated in the future. If the particular NGO is found guilty, exemplary punishment, such as black listing in the funding agencies files as suggested by some of the peer NGOs, must be awarded as a deterrent to all putative offenders.
 

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