Karnataka to set up homes for HIV hit children

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Karnataka to set up homes for HIV hit children

These homes will address issues and problems of the AIDS-HIV infected orphaned

children

Published on 9/22/2009 3:30:40 PM

By Maitreyee Boruah

Bangalore: Karnataka will soon provide special homes, to address issues and

problems, of the AIDS-HIV infected orphaned children. Five such homes will be

set up in north Karnataka.

" The homes are likely to come up in a couple of months. We'll soon decide on the

places in north Karnataka where these homes will be established, " Karnataka

State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) Consultant Suresh Shastri said.

" Along with taking care of food and shelter, the homes will also provide

education to the inmates, " Shastri said.

The homes are the brainchild of the state's Women and Child Welfare Department

in association with the KSAPS.

" Around 60 children will be sheltered in each home. A sum of Rs one crore will

be spent on each home, " Shastri said.

The homes will provide orphaned HIV- infected children special counselling,

including sex education, to prevent further spread of the disease.

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has marked Karnataka as a " highly

prevalent state " .

The state has 250,000 HIV-infected people and 33,000 suffering from AIDS, as

stated by KSAPS. But only 22,000 members are registered under the society.

According to experts at KSAPS, around 30 per cent of children born to HIV

infected mothers are at risk of contracting the disease if they are not part of

the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPCT) programmes.

" Sixty percent of HIV-infected mothers in the state have no access to PPCT, " a

KSAPS official said.

An estimated 2.5 million people in India are said to be living with HIV-AIDS,

the third largest AIDS figure in the world.

http://www.igovernment.in/site/Karnataka-to-set-up-homes-for-HIV-hit-children/