Government to drop treatment clause from HIV/AIDS bill
Tuesday, 05 July 2011, 17:30 IST
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New Delhi: In a setback to those rallying for a legislation that seeks to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said the government is planning to remove from the proposed bill the chapter of medical treatment. The minister met a delegation of five from among 200 HIV positive people protesting the delay in introduction of the bill on Monday."The minister stated the government would be removing the chapter on treatment from the bill. The chapter mandates the government to provide free of cost treatment to people living with HIV as well as free preventive services to protect people from contracting HIV," a member of the delegation said in a statement."The availability of second line treatment continues to be a huge problem. The chapter is vital and the government's refusal to include it in the bill comes as a huge disappointment to people living with HIV," he added. At present, the bill is with the health ministry. The protestors demanded that the bill be introduced in the monsoon session of parliament. Sahil from the Om Prakash Network of Positive People said: "The bill is very important as it puts an obligation on the state to provide complete treatment, diagnostics and nutritional supplements to all HIV positive people." In August 2007, the HIV/AIDS bill prepared by the health ministry was sent to the law ministry, and in March 2010 the law ministry cleared the bill. Since then, it bill is pending with the health ministry."We are not sure why the health ministry has become so indifferent towards passing this bill ever since the law ministry cleared it," an organizer of the protest told IANS. The minister was non-committal on when the bill would be introduced."The minister categorically refused to make a commitment on when the government would finalize the bill and introduce it in parliament," the statement said. For the last five years, groups working in the field of HIV, including the HIV positive people, have been demanding early passage of the bill. On Monday, there was also a conference on HIV/AIDS by the National Forum of Parliamentarians in the capital in which members of the health ministry, UNAIDS and the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) participated.
Source: IANS
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