Declining funds will wipe out the gains achieved in the past few years in the fight against HIV/AIDS and the virus may raise its deadly head again in the country, activists in the sector have warned.
Rashid Alvi, Congress leader and founding member of the Forum of Parliamentarians on HIV/AIDS (FPA), said, “We don’t have current estimated figures for HIV/AIDS but, I am afraid that reduction in budgets for AIDS programme may be devastating for the country in long term.”
Oscar Fernandes, MP and president of the FPA said, “Stigma and discrimination forms a major barrier to the HIV programmatic outreach, thus,HIV/AIDS Bill should be passed in both the houses of the Parliament.”
Sita Ratna Devi from the Aids Healhcare Foundation (AHF) stressed on adequate advocacy especially from the PlHIV community for a robust HIV programme in the country.
Currently, only 13.6 million people out of an estimated 36 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are on ART, which is far too low.