The long-awaited HIV Bill, a crucial public health legislation guaranteeing equal rights to India’s HIV community, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. India’s HIV community, however, confessed itself ‘disappointed’ as the Bill places an obligation on the State governments to provide treatment “as far as possible”, making it weak and open to interpretation.
“India’s HIV community cannot and will not accept this Bill, if the contentious clause ‘as far as possible’ is not removed. This HIV Bill, instead of protecting and safeguarding our welfare is now protecting the government. The Health Minister’s verbal assurance that no one will be denied treatment is welcoming but this has no constitutional or legal status. We want concrete assurance and safeguard of our treatment in the Indian Constitution,” said Loon Gangte, patient-activist with the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC).
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There are approximately 21 lakh persons estimated to be living with HIV in India and the percentage of patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) treatment currently stands at a mere 25.82% as against the global percentage of 41%, according to the 2015 Global Burden of Diseases (GBD).
Budget cuts
The Bill was approved by the Cabinet in October and was expected to guarantee the rights to treatment but Clause 14(1) of the Bill pertaining to prevention of spread of the virus included a phrase ‘as far as possible.’
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The Bill comes at a time when the national HIV programme has weakened due to budget cuts, with India currently facing nationwide stock-outs of diagnostic kits and pediatric formulations of anti-retrovirals (ARTs).