The Union government has given its consent to introduce official amendments to the HIV & AIDS (Prevention & Control) Bill, 2014.The bill was first introduced in parliament by the UPA government in 2014.
NEW FEATURES OF THE BILL
- The provisions of the bill look for to handle HIV connected discrimination, strengthen the present programme by transfer in legal liability & establish formal mechanisms for inquiring into complaints & redressing grievances.
- The bill also targets to enhance access to health care services by safeguarding informed consent & privacy for HIV-related testing, treatment & clinical research.
- The bill lists several grounds on which discrimination against HIV positive people is prohibited.
- It also places obligations on establishments to safeguard rights of persons living with HIV aids create mechanisms for redressing complaints.
- The bill conjointly forbids anyone from commercial enterprise data or advocating feelings of emotion against HIV-positive persons & people living with them.
- The bill also provides Guardianship for minors.
- The bill wants that no one shall be certain to reveal his HIV standing aside from his consent & if needed by a judicial writ.
The bill also suggests that the central & state governments shall take measures to:
- Check the spread of HIV or AIDS
- Make available of anti-retroviral therapy
- Enable their access to welfare schemes particularly for women & children
- Formulate HIV or AIDS education communication programs.
- Lay procedures for the care & treatment of children with HIV or AIDS
- The bill also suggests that the cases related to HIV positive persons shall be disposed of by the court on a priority basis & duly ensuring the confidentiality.
- Bill makes provision for employment of an ombudsman by state governments to inquire into complaints related to the violation of the Act & penal action in case of non-compliance.
SIGNIFICANCE
- The bill aims at achieving the target of ‘Ending the Epidemic by 20130’ as per the sustainable development goals.
- Recognizing that HIV/AIDS often causes children to be orphaned, and extended families are unwilling to shoulder their responsibility, the Bill says that any person aged between 12 and 18 years with sufficient maturity in understanding and managing the affairs of his HIV or AIDS-affected family can act as a guardian.
- This is a much-needed step for taking care of abandoned HIV children.
