Population Control and HIV/AIDS

abstract

Sexual health is a prime concern whether it is population control or HIV/AIDS. Population controls as well as the HIV/AIDS campaigns have repeatedly focused on the sexual practices of the poor and the sub-altern population of the developing nations. The campaigns employed have somewhat socially constructed the normative sexual health practices for the population at large. It has in some sense, ‘dictated’ the population about the ‘correct’ sexual behaviour. A glance at the population as well as HIV/AIDS programmes flag a common agenda. It can also be observed that the developing countries have depended on the expertise of the developed nations for the programmes. Thus, the developed nations had an upper hand in ‘dictating’ the normative sexual health behaviour for population in the developing nations based on their own understanding of sexual health practices. It can also be observed that most of the campaigns tend to speak down to the masses rather than considering their culture. This paper attempts to understand the basic tenets of the concepts of sexual health and tries to relate it to the population and HIV/AIDS programmes in India.

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Notes on contributors

Ravindra Kumar Vemula

Ravindra Kumar Vemula is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, School of Communication, at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad, India.