Re: Violation of RTI Act by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Re: /message/11538

I am interested to read this request because when I made enquiries about the

legal status of NACO and the criteria for selection of its membership could gain

no information that it was either incorporated or had any legal standing.

I was left with the impression that it was simply a Sub Committee of the Health

Department and that makes me wonder about a lot of things.

One is that I doubt that anyone who represents NACO officially is a person

living with HIV/AIDS.

TIME TO REVIEW THE STRUCTURE OF NACO

In Australia, we have a Ministerial Advisory Committee on HIV and related Viral

Disease conditions called MACASHH and more than 50% of its membership are

PLWHA's or people living with one of the other Hepatic viral conditions.

Until NACO is similarly constituted it will never become fully aware of the

disease and the way that it impacts on members of the infected and affected

communities.

This Committee fits into Health Department but reports directly to the

Minister.

The Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS, Sexual Health and Hepatitis

(MACASHH)

This committee is the Department of Health and Ageingfs high level expert

committee, providing advice on issues relevant to HIV/AIDS, sexually

transmissible infections and hepatitis C.

The advisory structure consists of an overarching MACASHH and is supported by

three expert subcommittees:

¡the HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmissible Infections Subcommittee (HASTI)

¡the Hepatitis C Subcommittee

¡the Indigenous Australiansf Sexual Health Subcommittee (IASHC) (This would

need to be modified to include rural and tribal Indians)

The membership of each committee comprises experts from relevant medical

specialities, public health, health promotion, treatment and research, and

community representatives.

Community Based organisations need to press for this kind of representation if

it has any chance of maintaining the controls necessary to prevent the new

generation of post pubescent young Indians going down the same experiential path

as their predecessors.

There would also need to have expert Committees for Tuberculosis patients and

maybe even Haemophilia patients in the Indian context.

This is distinctively the main reason why we in Australia have been able to stem

the tide of infection

Geoffrey

--

Geoff Heaviside

Convenor - Brimbank Community Initiatives Inc

Convenor - Brimbank International Student Support Services

Secretary - International Centre for Health Equity Inc

Member - Australasian Society for HIV Medicine Inc

P.O. Box 2400 s Lakes 3038

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