An Application under the Right To Information Act.

[Guest guest]

To

The Public Information Officer

The West Bengal Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Kolkata

Subject: An Application under the Right To Information Act to seek

information concerning right to life within 48 hours

Name of Applicant: Snehansu Bhaduri (HIV infected person, proof

attached with this application)

Address: 49/A/1, B.P. Dey Street

P.S. Srerampore,Dist. Hoogly

Pincode: 712201

Particulars of Information required:

i) Subject matter of information : Treatment (Clinical &

Psychological) of HIV positive persons provided by the State

Government.

ii) The period to which the information relates: December 2006 to

February 2007

iii) Description:

I'm an HIV infected person entitled to free Anti Retro-viral

treatment from state run health centres. Under my statutory rights

provided by Right to Information Act, 2005, I seek information in

form of answers to the questions given below. These information is

sought within 48 hrs from receiving this application under the

section 7 (1) of the Right to Information Act as the information

involves issues pertaining to life saving treatments and counseling

that prevents aggravation of HIV positive person's health,

therefore, concerning the undersigned's right to life .It would be

pertinent to mention here that my CD4 count presently is 178 and

the viral load is 1786539 per cc ml, which implies that I am moving

fast towards the most dreaded situation of AIDS. Also this situation

is very common within a considerable fraction of the society and

thereby this involves the very critical issue of life and death.

In how many centres in West Bengal Anti Retro-viral Treatment

(hereinafter " ART " ) is provided?

Is there any policy statement issued by the state government in

respect to HIV/ AIDS and its treatment? If yes, please provide a

copy.

Does the state government commit itself to provide free counseling

and ART treatment to the HIV infected.

How many HIV positive persons reside in West Bengal and how many out of them

receive the free ART treatment provided by the Government at the VCTC

Centres/Hospitals?

How many centres in West Bengal provide HIV testing facility including ELISA

test?

How many of these centres have counselling facility for those

approaching for such tests?

When donated blood is detected to be HIV positive, are the donors

informed of their status? If yes, is there any arrangement for

counseling?

What is the procedure for the counseling? Is it done in a phased

manner? Is there any provision for follow up counseling?

Do you keep records of the counseling? If yes, how many counselings

were done since December 2006 till February 2007?

How many counselors are working for this purpose in different VCTC

centres?

What are the eligibility/ qualification criteria for such

counselors? Is there any provision for training of the staff

responsible for such counseling? Please provide details.

Is there any training programme for the counselors? Is there any

systematic process for updating the counselors with new medical

discoveries and developments so that they can pass on such

information to the counseled? If yes, provide details of such

programme.

Are the counselors appointed for counseling purpose exclusively or

they have other duties to perform? If yes, what are the other

duties? Please furnish details for all such counselors in West

Bengal.

How many staff were appointed after National AIDS Control

Organization came up with its guidelines?

Have the state government tried to involve HIV positive people in

its AIDS related programme, especially in pursuit of Greater

Involvement of People with AIDS policy as declared in Paris AIDS

Convention, to which India is a signatory? If yes, in what ways?

Please provide details of all involvements of all HIV positive

persons in state run programme if yes.

Place: Kolkata

Date: 21. 03. 2007

Prepared by:

Human Rights Law Network, Kolkata Branch.

Miss.Ambalika Roy, Advocate-9330897224

Vibhu Sharma, Student-9339084248

Purvi Dabbiru, student-9836296842

Anjana Sarkar, student-9231333745

Ramanuj Mukherjee, student-9883145405

Bhaduri Snehansu

49/A/1, B.P. Dey Street, Serampore, Hooghly,

West Bengal, India. Pin-712201.

Phone:+91-33-26521519(resi)

E-Mail:snehansu_bhaduri@...