70,000 Indian children are battling AIDS

[Guest guest]

70,000 Indian children are battling AIDS

From correspondents in Delhi, India, 05:33 PM IST

One out of every eight children suffering from HIV/AIDS worldwide are

in India.

About 70,000 children below the age of 15 in India are battling the

dreaded HIV/AIDS, some who are born with it and others who have got

it through blood transfusion, a top health ministry official revealed

for the first time here Tuesday.

'There may be 70,000 children infected with HIV in India with nearly

21,000 new infections occurring every year,' Health Secretary Naresh

Dayal said.

This is a little over a seventh of the total number of children who

are afflicted with the disease globally.

India has so far been surveying the HIV positive population in the 15-

59 age group and this is the first time that the government has

released data on the HIV positive children population.

Speaking at the launch of the 'Policy Framework for Children and

AIDS' Dayal said: 'The figure is based on the new estimates of HIV

prevalence in India'.

Earlier this month, the health ministry had released fresh data that

halved the estimates of AIDS prevalence in India - the new data shows

that the country is home to 2.5 million AIDS patients as against the

previous estimate of 5.2 million.

According to Arjan De Wagt, a US-based representative of Unicef,

there are around 530,000 HIV infected children worldwide and nearly

15.2 million children are orphaned due to AIDS.

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) chief K. Sujatha Rao said

that the organisation that is part of the ministry now has a record

of around 19,000 children.

'We have a record of 19,000 children and are looking out for the rest

of these young patients. At present we are giving anti-retroviral

doses to 6,500 kids,' Rao said.

Elaborating on the measures launched to reduce the number of children

being born with HIV infection, Dayal said: 'The government is

implementing a nationwide programme called Prevention of Parent-to-

Child Transmission.'

'Since the introduction of this scheme four years ago, we have

counselled and tested nearly five million mothers, detected 47,000

HIV positive mothers and provided prophylaxis (treatment for the

prevention of a disease) to 20,000 mother-baby pairs,' Dayal said.

http://www.indiaenews.com/health/20070731/63380.htm

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

I am getting a bit tired of all these estimates. The half and otherwise. Now

that the hue and cry has died down can we start looking at the problems of the

people in these numbers? We have on our rolls 775 orphans we have been able to

get only 330 tested out of which 118 are positive which is 35.7%. Out of them

only 45 have been able to access CD4 testing. Now 35 are on ART. SANGRAM had to

assist [travel] 292 of them for the HIV test.

I have a few questions for the Government about children orphaned due to HIV.

How do they expect the orphans due to HIV, access testing for HIV?

Once they test positive:

What system do they have in place for orphans who have lost both parents and are

dependent on assorted extended family members for care and access to treatment?

What system do they have in place for those receiving ART from the rural areas

especially, to reach the ART centre for regular medications?

For instance, Children from Jat tehsil in Sangli district live 100kms from both

testing facility [CD4] and the ART roll out.

The assumption that family members will invest in their travel and loose a day's

work is problematic. Announcing free treatment alone is not enough.

In the event that it is only grandparents who are the primary care givers, what

system is in place for the children to access the free treatment and get care

and support? Nutrition is a huge issue, education another.

Oportunistic infection treatment for children has no dedicated network with the

Department of Paediatrics, even if the child does reach the civil hospital.

In our experience it requires very little to resolve most of these problems.

Travel for the kid plus one adult can be done by a simple `pass' from their

village to the civil hospital ART centre, organised through the State Department

of Transport.

Ration cards for HIV positive mothers who have come back to their maternal homes

with their kids is something government can do easily. As widows they need

separate ration cards. At present in most cases, their cards are stuck with the

husband's family. At least some basic food issues can be solved.

Education for all orphans of HIV can be made free up to the tenth standard at

least. Including books, bag, uniform and exam fees.

Special ration cards for children who have lost both parents can be issued to

care takers, Kids holding such cards can avail of all these services, so this

will not need a new system to be set up.

It takes very little; can we please get to work?

In solidarity,

Meena Saraswathi Seshu.

SANGRAM/CASAM [Centre for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation.}

e-mail: <sangram.vamp@...>