Jalpaiguri District Meeting
As per the latest HIV estimates report (2019) of the Government, India is estimated to have around 23.49 lakh people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in 2019. The epidemic is concentrated among key affected populations,however the vulnerabilities that drive the epidemic vary in different parts of the country.A key driver is unprotected sex among key populations and their clients, partners and spouses. However, injecting drug use in the north and northeast of the country is also pushing up HIV prevalence. Women have been subject to injustice in varied forms since time immemorial. There has and still is an urgent and continuous requirement of legislation and implementation for safeguarding the rights of women.Healthcare is also within the ambit of right to life and there is an urgent requirement to provide the basic facilities. The half or more than half of the world’s human population is the female population. It is the women and children of the society who have been time and again subjected to patriarchal and masculine toxicity and superiority. Diseases are not within the control of individuals all the time and it is for the society to help each other heal. The victims and patients face several discrimination and violations and special legislation to protect and safeguard their rights are required.Protecting women’s rights is important in itself.The National AIDS Control Programme has made particular efforts to reach these two high-risk groups with HIV interventions.Despite free anti-retroviral treatment being available, uptake remains low as many people face difficulty in accessing clinics. A number of issues including HIV-related stigma, relatively low levels of status awareness among people living with HIV and weak links between diagnosis and treatment mean progress is not moving as quickly as hoped. A lack of data on key populations and on certain key indicators such as viral suppression rates also makes it difficult for HIV programmes to be designed in ways that effectively meet the needs of those most affected by the country’s HIV epidemic