Date:12/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/12/stories/2007051212770400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Don't turn away AIDS patients, doctors told

Staff Reporter

Refusal of treatment will be severely dealt with: Ashok

BANGALORE: Medical officers and healthcare providers in private and government hospitals who refuse to treat AIDS patients will be severely dealt with, Health Minister R. Ashok has said.

Addressing the first meeting of the newly constituted 19-member Legislators' Forum on HIV/AIDS, Mr. Ashok said such an attitude on the part of the medical fraternity would negate the work of non-governmental organisations, individuals and even elected representatives in creating awareness and dispelling myths about AIDS.

`Take the lead'

The Forum, he said, had the potential to make a vast difference to the estimated five lakh HIV positive people in the State by taking the lead in changing the public mindset about AIDS. Realising this, the Parliamentary Forum on AIDS, with the Prime Minister as its head, had undertaken several initiatives to create awareness, change mindsets and help afflicted persons cope with the stigma around the disease.

As elected representatives, legislators could help communities accept the reality of AIDS, guard against it and, more importantly, help dispel the stigma and fear attached to the disease, which has caused 877 deaths in 15 years in Karnataka alone, Mr. Ashok said.

High-risk State

With 10,697 patients and almost five lakh people who are HIV positive, Karnataka ranks second among the six high-risk States in the country.

Mr. Ashok said there was an urgent need for this population to know that society and the Government had not set them aside, and an action plan to address the special needs of this section of the population would be prepared.

Agencies such as the Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society (KSAPS) were engaged in drafting a strategy for the prevention and control of AIDS, particularly among children, and mothers passing on the disease to newborn children, Mr. Ashok said.

Prayer meeting

On June 17, the Forum will join hundreds of citizens in a candlelight prayer meeting in memory of those who have died of AIDS.

Though there are 19 legislators in the Forum, only four MLCs and one MLA attended Friday's programme. The MLCs present were M.P. Nadagouda, Srinath, M. Srinivas, and Manohar Maski. The solitary MLA was the nominated representative of the Anglo-Indian community, Ivan Nigli.

The meeting was to have been inaugurated by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who was held up in a series of meetings.