Rights Group Cites Bias Against India's
AIDS-Affected Children
By Rama Lakshmi Special to The Washington Post Friday, July 30, 2004; Page A13
NEW DELHI, July 29 -- Children affected by AIDS in India suffer from
abuse and discrimination, a problem that undermines efforts to fight a growing
epidemic and places millions of lives in danger, according to a report issued
Thursday by Human Rights Watch.
The New York-based organization urged the Indian government to ensure
that children affected by HIV and AIDS are not denied access to education and
medical care.
Such children face discrimination in schools and hospitals, are denied
care by orphanages, and are forced onto the streets and into the worst forms of
labor, said the report, "Future Forsaken: Abuses Against Children Affected by
HIV/AIDS in India." It was based on interviews and field research in five Indian
states.
At least 5.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in India, a figure
second only to South Africa's, according to Indian government estimates.
Although the government has not determined the number of children affected by
AIDS, some experts say that more than 1 million children under 15 have lost one
or both parents to the epidemic and that more than 200,000 children are
HIV-positive. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
"There is a sense of denial by the Indian government that HIV-affected
children face widespread abuse, and their concerns are invisible in government's
policy response," said Zama Coursen-Neff, author of the 209-page report. "We
hope our report would bring the children into the government's radar
screen."
The government's National AIDS Control Organization declined to comment
on the report. The agency, in collaboration with UNICEF, runs an AIDS education
program for high school students in states with a high prevalence of infection.
The program provides basic facts about the epidemic and virus transmission, said
a UNICEF spokeswoman. But the challenge remains in reaching millions of students
who never reach high school, she added.
The Human Rights Watch report, which includes testimony from children,
says: "Doctors have refused to treat and sometimes even touch HIV positive
children. Schools have expelled or segregated children because they or their
parents are HIV positive."
It quotes Sharmila A, 10, an AIDS orphan living with HIV, recounting
the attitude of her teachers when they found out she was infected.
"When I went to school, I sat separately from the other children, in
the last mat. I sat alone," the report quotes her as saying. "The other children
wanted to be with me, but the teacher would tell them not to play with me. She
said, 'This disease will spread to you also, so do not play with her.' "
In a major policy initiative in April, India began distributing free
anti-retroviral drugs to about 100,000 poor AIDS patients. In a symbolic gesture
as she announced the program, Sushma Swaraj, then health minister, hugged two
AIDS-affected children who had been denied access to school.
Three Indian states have policies addressing discrimination against
AIDS-affected people in education and health. The Lawyers Collective (HIV/AIDS),
an advocacy group that has been working with the government since 2001 on draft
legislation to protect the rights of AIDS-affected people, said a bill would be
introduced in parliament this year.
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