Host of activities to mark Global AIDS action week

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Host of activities to mark Global AIDS action week

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Demanding stronger response and

accountability towards HIV/AIDS patients, activists, NGOs and the

patients themselves will come together in 30 countries, including

India, to observe the Global AIDS action week beginning Sunday. To be

observed in Delhi besides 10 other states in India, the weeklong

activities will begin with a candlelight memorial Sunday.

Pragya Vats of ActionAid India, an international developmental

agency, said that the focus of the activities in India will be to

urge the Indian government to act upon the draft of the HIV/AIDS bill

immediately.

" The Global AIDS action week is an advocacy platform for the cause of

HIV/AIDS patients world over. In India this year, our focus is to

urge the government to act upon the (draft of) the HIV/AIDS bill

because it will empower the HIV patients to lead a life free of

discrimination, " Vats told IANS.

The draft of the HIV/AIDS bill is, at present, with the law ministry

and is in the consultation phase.

" If the bill is approved, a patient will be able to demand his or her

right to treatment and a fulfilled life. Despite efforts to sensitise

people, large scale discrimination takes place openly against HIV

patients, " she added.

Vats said that over 200 people, most of them patients, NGOs and civil

society members, will take part in the " AIDS Walk for Rights " May 21

in Delhi, when they march from Jantar Mantar in the heart of the

capital to the health ministry office.

They will also write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard.

In Gujarat, postcards will be sent to the central Health Minister

Anbumani Ramadoss urging him to push for the bill.

Seminars, workshops, rallies and candlelight vigils in the other

states - Nagaland, Manipur, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West

Bengal, Orissa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - will be held during the

course of the week.

According to statistics, over 6,000 people die of AIDS in the world

everyday. In India the estimated number of HIV/AIDS patients is 2.5

million.

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