of which only 74 are HIV-positive

At CHELSEA, 733 such children have sought help this year, of which only 74 are HIV-positive. Dr A K Gupta, Assistant Project Director of the Delhi State AIDS Control Society, said, “Most of these children are not infected with the virus, but are still denied institutional care at many orphanages the minute their parents’ history is disclosed.”

Newsline spoke to a few such children in Delhi. An eight-year-old who is positive, lives with his HIV-positive mother and his 12-year-old brother, who is negative. “I take three medicines at 8 pm everyday. My mother takes her pills at 9 pm everyday. If we miss our medicines, we will die,” he says matter-of-factly. His mother confesses she knew she was positive when he was conceived, but did not tell the doctors.The boy was told about his HIV status when he was six.

“I know I may die soon, but I must not tell my friends about my illness,” he says.