The recent estimates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in India may have provided some much-needed respite for the government, but a lot needs to be done to ensure that the figures continue to decline. India can do a great deal more in educating people about the consequences of the disease. This means a rational sex education programme. However, mainstreaming such interventions has proved to be an extremely difficult proposition in our country. It’s not just India that has faced problems with regard to introducing sex education in the school curriculum. Other countries have also had a hard time doing this. Today experts in Stockholm — which accounts for 10 per cent of Sweden’s total population — believe that timely intervention at the school level can help keep HIV/AIDS figures under control. Stockholm, incidentally, has an estimated 7,000 cases of HIV/AIDS.

Some 50 years ago, Sweden was a largely rural society. Using condoms was regarded as highly immoral. It was also illegal to promote condoms. The experts had to work hard to change this mindset. Many travelled around, delivering lectures and anchoring training programmes. Today, public attitudes are far more progressive in Sweden today and sex education is taken extremely seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it is constantly under public scrutiny and review. The Swedish sex education programme is based on a handbook on sexuality and personal relationships, called The Main Thread. A recent survey on The Main Thread indicated that 87 per cent of respondents believed that the handbook has contributed a great deal towards raising awareness among young people. In India, the situation is not that different. Indian youth are already so exposed to western fashion, music and of course the internet, so why can’t they handle sex education? Why do politicians intervene and believe such programmes would corrupt young minds. The high-risk groups — Men Having Sex with Men and Intravenous Drug Users — are similar in India and Stockholm. The resource material that experts, including teachers, doctors and others, have put together can address the dearth of useful sex education literature in this country. The collaborative partnership between the MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child in India and RFSU-Institute for Sexuality Education in Stockholm is one such effort. India needs many more of such collaborations.

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