Yesterday, Manmohan Singh went to the podium and incongruously began to croon a Salt-N-Pepa single from 15 years ago. He said:

Let’s talk about sex, baby
Let’s talk about you and me
Let’s talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let’s talk about sex
Let’s talk about sex
Let’s talk about sex
Let’s talk about sex… [Link]

Well, not really. His words were his own, spoken not sung, but they had the same import and were no less surprising than a Karoke act would have been. What he said was:

“Leading a healthy and safe sexual life is a commitment we must all make … This is particularly important given our traditional inhibitions about discussing such matters within our families and among our colleagues, quite apart from doing so in public. This, quite obviously, has to change if we are to create awareness in the war against HIV and Aids.” [Link]

In other words: Let’s talk about S-E-X. This from a 73 year old man who has been married for almost half a century. This is a clarion call from the top, as blunt as we can expect from a policy wonk in a sky blue paag.

According to official figures, India has the second highest number of HIV+ people in the world, and the CIA has forecast that there could be up to 20 million HIV positive Indians within 5 years. Addressing this challenge will not be easy. Ignorance is widespread:

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said … that despite over 80 per cent of the people being aware of the epidemic, most in the country continues to deny its existence, he said. [Link]

In New Delhi, 30 students completed a 6,800-km (4,200-km) walk across India to warn people against AIDS. “Villagers who have heard about AIDS thought we may be HIV-positive and did not want to stand near us or talk to us because they felt they would get infected,” said 20-year-old Vicky Gill, who is HIV-negative. [Link]

And many are extremely touchy about the subject:

Last month, a popular south Indian actress was pelted with sandals, tomatoes and rotten eggs and hauled before a court for telling Indian men not to expect their brides to be virgins. [Link]

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p>However, as Manmohan Singh explained in his inimitable fashion, the economic costs of ignorance and conservatism are very high:

“India is today at the threshold of a major demographic transition with the age profile of population favouring youth. Our comparative advantage is increasingly a cheap and skilled labour force and a rising saving rate … But what if we begin to lose our youth to this disease? This will have serious consequences for our society, our economy and indeed our future,” he warned saying youth were often the highest risk segment. [Link]

In other words, middle-class India may not want to talk about the disease, but their continued prosperity depends on it. For this reason, he called upon the media to better educate both itself and others about the disease, and expressed disappointment at the lack of available treatment:

India missed its target of providing anti-retroviral drugs to 100,000 people by mid-2004. Just 15,000 people are receiving the drugs. Drugs can cost around 1,300 rupees a month ($28), a sum out of reach of many Indians. [Link]

In addition, he pointed to the need for all government bodies to take AIDS more seriously:

He said the National AIDS Control efforts should be taken out of the narrow confines of the Health Department. “It must become an integral part of all government departments. In fact, the National AIDS Control Programme should be mainstreamed into the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as an integral part of the National Rural Health Mission and implemented efficiently through the available public health network.”

The PM said by doing so, the country would be able to upscale efforts to the desired levels within the minimum period of time. “We need to act to effectively check the further spread of the disease. This then should be our priority,” Dr Singh said. [Link]

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Tackling HIV/AIDS will take concerted leadership and efforts from all levels of society. Although talk is cheap, this is still a pretty good first step.