India Unveils National Policies Addressing HIV Prevention and Care, Blood Safety
The Indian government announced yesterday a new national policy to prevent the spread of HIV and provide care for those affected by HIV/AIDS, Agence France-Presse reports. The new policy will protect the right of HIV-positive individuals to access health care and will prohibit the denial of education, work and privacy to people with HIV. The policy also emphasizes greater cooperation with the United Nations and other agencies for financial and technical support to help fight the spread of the virus in India. The Indian government also formed a National Blood Policy that aims to protect the safety of the nation's blood supply (Agence France-Presse, 4/2). The blood policy is designed to achieve "maximum safety" for the blood supply by requiring good blood manufacturing practices and the implementation of quality control systems (Press Trust of India, 4/2). The national policies come two weeks after India announced that it has nearly four million HIV-positive residents, although unofficial estimates say that the actual number of HIV infections in the country could be closer to five million (Agence France-Presse, 4/2).
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