Educating the Education Minister

Tuesday, 8 March 2016 01:31 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

When a country has an uneducated Education Minister, any hope of progress dies, especially when he makes serious and erroneous statements to curry favour with his bigoted voters. The statements by Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam have to be condemned by any person who believes in dignity, compassion or even fact.

The Minister’s lapses are numerous. The child in question is not infected with the HIV virus and according to reports, neither is his mother. The father’s cause of death is also in doubt and apparently the mother has denied the rumours and has certificates proving their health. Therefore Kariyawasam suggesting the child should be taken into State foster care because he could be infected by sleeping next to the mother is sheer nonsense. Even if the child or the mother were infected, AIDS cannot be transferred by physical contact. Just the idea of separating mother and child who have been through so much together would be further victimising the child and in no way beneficial to him.

Kariyawasam’s transgressions are compounded by the fact he does not have the right to divulge health details of a minor and his parent to the world. Given the serious stigmatisation already faced by the child and his mother, the Minister’s nonsensical statements will do incredible harm. To the credit of the Government, other lawmakers are attempting to reverse the injustice with even President Maithripala Sirisena assuring the mother a school will be prevailed on to absorb the child, but Kariyawasam’s idiotic statements threaten to undermine these efforts.

Public officials have a duty to protect victims and encourage progressive ideas. The spread of HIV is based on scientific fact; ignoring this when politicians pander to their narrow-minded and uneducated voters results in additional victimisation and deprivation on rights. HIV-infected adults and children have the right to a fulfilled life.

This is the sad plight of a dangerous trend. It is almost inconceivable that in an age of free and immediate access to information, so many people would be prejudiced against a small child and limit his chance to recover from losing his father and gaining an education. This experience will scar him for life but it also underscores the dire need to have more widespread awareness of AIDS, not only to combat discrimination but also because ignorance on this scale also creates opportunities for the virus to spread. If people are not aware of what AIDS is and how it spreads, then how can they safeguard themselves? Perhaps Kariyawasam and his electorate can participate in the first crash course.

Stigmatisation and discrimination discourage demand for counselling, testing, and treatment. Reducing the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS in Sri Lanka will require greater involvement of civil society organisations, businesses, the entertainment industry, religious leaders, and the medical community. As respected opinion leaders, they can play an effective role in reducing harassment of groups promoting positive attitudes towards people with HIV and AIDS and creating an enabling environment for prevention efforts. Training Police to reduce harassment of vulnerable groups and engage HIV-positive groups are central to these efforts and action must be taken immediately. It’s time public officials are held to higher standards.