India gay ruling boosts AIDS fight but stigma lingers

By Matthias Williams

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian court ruling to decriminalize gay sex will boost the fight against AIDS, but a powerful stigma against homosexuality and uneven quality of healthcare will still hamper efforts, a top AIDS worker said.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday overturned a British colonial era law on gay sex to the delight of gay activists and health workers, and the consternation of some religious leaders.

But the verdict can be challenged in the Supreme Court and an 1861 law banning "sex against the order of nature" -- widely interpreted to mean homosexual sex -- has not yet been repealed and carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

In India, which numbers at least 2.5 million HIV infected people among its 1.1 billion-plus population, prejudice against homosexuals as well as AIDS sufferers will still likely deter many afflicted with the disease from seeking treatment.

"It will make a difference, not overnight but definitely over a period of time," J.V.R. Prasada Rao, UNAIDS Asia Pacific Regional Director, said by phone.

"This is still a community which is underground...they don't come to the treatment centers because of the stigma attached to this," he added.

India's medical services remain uneven, Rao said.

More effective government in most southern states means infection rates have stabilized, but rates are rising in populous northern states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the northeast, he said without providing figures.

"The southern states started their response much earlier," Rao said. "The health system and the governance is definitely better in the southern states."

An estimated 33 million people globally are infected with the AIDS virus, most of them in Africa or other developing countries.

Rao said Thursday's verdict could be a cue for other nations, including former British colonies such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which ban gay sex under the same section of their penal code as India does -- section 377.

"India being a large country and a path-breaker in democratic reforms. This particular judgment in India is definitely going to have its impact on other countries, and especially on the ... mobilization of the public opinion," he said. (Editing by Matthew Jones; Editing by Matthew Jones)