So far two groups of children

So far two groups of children – infected (those who are HIV) and affected children (those who are member of an AIDS affected person’s family) were in the focus of discussion. But now more comprehensive view is emerging.

Only in the mid-1990s did India start to acknowledge the worsening crisis, and the central government woke up to take action. But the response to children ’experiences with HIV/AIDS has been piecemeal, compared with the response towards adult.

Currently only a few Indian hospitals, all in the big coastal cities and far from the vast majority of infected citizens, are equipped to treat AIDS, and the cost of treatment is far too high for average citizens to afford. These factors, combined with the unwillingness of the government at the local level to take actions such as prevention awareness, converge to increase the likelihood of a future AIDS tragedy in India.

AIDS in India has been a taboo topic for years, and to a large extent it remains so today.

While in recent years the central government has become more involved in raising awareness of AIDS and taking steps to prevent and contain it, the local and provincial governments have been slow to follow suit. Often they make the situation more difficult by refusing to acknowledge the AIDS crisis as it might reflect poorly on them.

A study conducted by Save the Children Fund (UK) in Tamil Nadu reports growing impoverishment of AIDS affected families.

Very few rehabilitation homes are run for the children. In Maharshtra number of Govt child care homes does not take in infected children, a lacuna that needs to be urgently addressed.

“Many teachers, doctors, government officials and ordinary people in India still don’t know the basic facts about HIV transmission and AIDS care,” Rev. Fr. Alex of Catholic Bishops Conference (CBCI) said.