"They have no data on HIV-infected children

"They have no data on HIV-infected children. Even their website is silent on the number of paediatric HIV+ patients even though it declares the number of infected men, women and youth in the state. We had filed an RTI in August seeking information on the district-wise distribution of HIV positive children. After staying mum for months, they sent us a break-up of the number of patients across the districts on December 3. It said 684 was the total number. Kolkata, if they are to be believed, has just 50 HIV-infected children," said Bappaditya Mukherjee, secretary of Prantakatha.

The WBSAPCS, however, claimed the data was authentic. "We have collected the figures after a thorough interaction with local networks and scanning their information base. A large percentage of the HIV-infected children in Kolkata actually hail from the districts and they have been included in our list. But it's true that there's no government home for HIV children," said Swarnadipa Biswas, deputy director of WBSAPCS.

KOLKATA: More than 3,000 HIV-infected childrenaa

KOLKATA: More than 3,000 HIV-infected children including scores in Kolkata could be going untreated and uncared for in West Bengal, risking transmission of the deadly virus, with the state health authorities not even being aware of their existence.

Around 150 of Kolkata's 11,000 streetchildren are infected with AIDS but have never been treated or screened, showed a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases. Aged less than 14, the majority of them who have acquired the disease from their mothers could die before they turn 18 or even earlier.

The alarming facts have been disclosed following the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society's (WBSAPCS) response to an RTI application. The body has put the number of HIV+ children in the state at 684, including just 50 in Kolkata.

Prantakatha, the NGO which filed the RTI application, has pointed out that more than 200 infected children have been traced in Kolkata alone. While the WBSAPCS claimed that their data has been compiled through various local networks and social organizations working at the grassroots with HIV+ people, Prantakatha alleged that the figure had been cooked up.