Date:20/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/20/stories/2004122006910500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

AIDS campaign: Centre to introduce bill soon

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA, DEC. 19. Intensifying its efforts to combat the alarming increase in the number of HIV/AIDS cases, the Central Government has decided to enact a legislation for taking the campaign against AIDS to the grassroot level. The legislation, likely to be tabled in Parliament in the forthcoming budget session, also envisages "protective steps" like providing insurance cover to the affected persons.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, the Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Oscar Fernandes, however, clarified that the Government had no plans to make HIV tests mandatory for people before they were married. "Blood test before marriage cannot be made mandatory as there is a stigma attached to it. We want to take up the campaign to educate people," he said. Interestingly, Mr. Fernandes' wife, Blossom Fernandes, who was also present during the press conference spoke in favour of making blood tests mandatory before marriage.

Gram sabhas

Explaining the proposed legislation, the Minister said the Government had decided to sensitise the elected representatives right from the panchayat level to the Parliamentary constituency-level to take up the campaign against AIDS. "There are about three million elected representatives in gram panchayat bodies, including one million women, and they will be asked to take up the awareness campaign by conducting gram sabhas," he said.