AIDS policy for panchayats by December 1, 2003

September 27, 2003

Dear FORUM, Though, the following news is few months old, important

enough to post it. [Moderator]

HIV fight to start from villages

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE: NEW DELHI, JULY 27: If things proceed as

planned, December 1, 2003, is going to be a special day. That day,

all panchayats in the country are likely to hold sessions to

formulate an AIDS policy in their respective villages. This was

decided at the two-day convention of the Indian Parliamentarians'

Forum on HIV/AIDS, which ended in the capital this evening.

The convention saw politicians cutting across party lines resolving

to fight the disease collectively. These elected representatives

urged the need for a comprehensive legislation to protect human

rights of those affected with the deadly virus and also for a policy

on both the central and state levels to fight the disease.

``The Prime Minister had said that there was a possibility of holding

a special session of Parliament on HIV/AIDS in the near future,''

Fernandes, Convenor of the forum, said. According to him, the

session was important as it would be utilised to draft a Bill dealing

with issues of rights of the HIV-infected people so that they are not

discriminated against.

The Bill is likely to deal with issues like accessibility of

treatment and mandatory testing before marriage. It will also focus

on taking care of infected people with a special focus on palliative

care.

The participants also insisted on the need to lower costs and

withdraw sales tax and customs duty on anti-retroviral drugs as

providing these free of cost may not be possible in the near future.

These drugs cost about Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,800 per month and if the

duties are withdrawn, the cost would come down to about Rs 1,000 per

month.

Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, however, expressed her concern

about controlling the disease in view of the heavy migration into the

city from other states. ``This peculiar situation requires the people

of the Capital to be more aware than they are at present,'' she

maintained.

Reiterating the need for easy availability of treatment, she said

that the Delhi government was trying to ensure that hospital

infrastructure and health care personnel were more responsive to the

treatment and care of people living with the virus.

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