Daily Times

Not long ago, HIV infections, a deadly health hazard, were believed to be pandemic only in Africa. That is no longer the case. The United Nations has declared Pakistan the second fastest HIV growing country across Asia. In Larkana and Shikarpur districts of Sindh, around 700 people have tested HIV-positive in recent screenings.

The surge is frightening and worrisome. It is particularly alarming that the weaker segments of society – the poor, the children and the women – are the most vulnerable. Such viruses inflict pain and compound the problems for the weak. Recently, a man in Gharo Rind village of Larkana district strangled his HIV-positive wife after accusing him of an extramarital relationship. Why should a poor man kill his life partner and make their children orphans? How could he infer how she had got her infection?

For all anybody knows she could have contracted the virus by sharing a syringe with somebody. She could also have been infected at the time of a delivery. The risk is particularly greater in case of a caesarean birth. She could have received the blood of an HIV carrier. The infection could have been caused by unsanitary needles of a beautician. Of course, there is no way of conclusively showing that she could not have contracted it through sexual intercourse.

The hasty conclusion of the husband signifies inequality of power and awareness. In a patriarchal society, a male member enjoys more power in a family than a woman. The husband could thus kill his wife and expect not to be held accountable for it. The least the government can do is prosecute him fairly and punish him in accordance with law.

A man in Gharo Rind village of Larkana district has strangled his HIV-positive wife after accusing her of an extramarital relationship

The case speaks of inequality of awareness. The husband certainly lacks the required awareness and mental capacity that comes from a good education. The factors that drive people like him should also be addressed to reform the situation. A mechanism of equal resources and opportunities to receive education and related awareness is certainly the responsibility of the state. Understanding the factors responsible for the husband’s conduct is necessary to prevent such crimes.

The HIV pandemic is a symptom of several wrongs. These include global and local inequalities. The core factors include an unequal distribution of economic and political resources. Inequality of resources, education and awareness produces such crises. The events illustrate the complexity beneath the spread. Many of the factors are interconnected. They can be divided into two main categories: (a) results of socio-cultural practices, and (b) production of eco-political regimes. The second category is more powerful than the former.

There is a dire need for concentrated to deal with the aftermath. The requirement is to pose critical questions to understand the phenomenon. HIV requires assiduous research of social sciences, which employ the critical (e.g. political economy) and interpretive paradigms. Disciplines like anthropology, sociology and political science elucidate the causes and aftermath of events with empirical evidence.

Without primary research studies to explore the genuine causes, projects and programmes devised to solve the problem might fail no produce the intended outcomes. Relying on generalisations and assumptions one can quickly come up with a programme. Like a painkiller it could perhaps bring temporary solace, but it would neither heal the wounds nor halt a future occurrence. General opinions cannot help us understand the root causes. We might not thus devise effective remedies. It is like learning that orange is a fruit that contains around 12 grams of natural sugar, and concluding that all fruits contain a similar amount of sugar.

All complex problems are result of multiple factors.

The writer is a PhD Scholar at the University of Vienna, Austria