HIV activists protests at Jantar Mantar

HIV activists from all over India gathered at Jantar Mantar on December 01 to gather attention from the government on the issue. They were disguised as skeletons, and demanded that the government revives focus on AIDS Programme in India. Many people stood for the cause together on December 01, as reported by a website.

The activists expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the programme which has been on a decline in the past few years. According to a UN report, India has the third largest number of people living with HIV in the world. India's HIV/AIDS campaign has been touted as the largest HIV prevention and treatment programme in the world.

Activists present at the protests have clearly implied that the prime reason for staging this protest has been to attract government attention. In their opinion, the government has been ignoring the AIDS programme. The protest was organised under the banner of AIDS Health Care Centre.

As confirmed by Punjab Kesari, Dr Dr Sita Ratna Devi, India Bureau Chief, AIDS Healthcare Foundation is implied to have said that the depleting stocks and shortage of medicines puts an unnecessary burden on the AIDS care system. This in turn, affected the progress of the AIDS care system, and also puts pressure to adopt private AIDS care system which will increase the cost burden on the administration.