India: Manipur's Legislative Assembly will look into how to provide support to the widows and orphaned children of men who have died of AIDS.
The Manipur Legislature Forum on HIV/AIDS is set to tackle the issue of AIDS orphans and widows. The Forum was organized almost four years ago in June 2007. It has a responsibility to help fight HIV/AIDS in the state by building awareness in the Assembly’s constituencies.
The Forum has decided to expand its activities into programmes designed to help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS. While there are no concrete numbers on the number of widows and AIDS orphans in the state, the number is thought to be climbing every year.
When their HIV-positive husbands pass away, widows often lose their primary source of household income. In an effort to make a living, the widows sometimes turn to sex work. Not only do they put themselves at risk of contracting sexually-transmitted diseases, but it is also more likely that (if infected themselves) they will transmit the virus to their clients.
This issue, said Irengbam Hemochandra Singh, Speaker of the Assembly and Chairman of the Forum, is on the agenda for the next meeting of the Forum.
Opportunities for developing laws that protect the rights of widows and orphans, as well as policies that ensure their livelihoods, will be explored.
Manipur has one of the highest HIV-prevalence rates in India. The state is home to 38, 016 HIV-positive individuals, 10, 109 of whom are women and 2,578 of whom are children. Prevalence is particularly high considering that only 0.2% of India’s population, but 8% of the HIV-positive population, resides in the state.
The regional agency with the foremost responsibility for fighting the disease in the state is the Manipur State AIDS Control (MACS). The MACS conducts its activities under the supervision of India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
Earlier this week, staff members of the Manipur Voluntary Health Association (MVHA) demonstrated over the functioning of the association and the 13 months’ worth of wages they have not yet received. It was recently reported that staff were locked out of their office without notification.
Several HIV-positive individuals access their medications from the office. With the office locked, some patients undergoing treatment for HIV/AIDS-related illnesses and tuberculosis were without medication – medication whose efficacy is partly dependent on regular dosages and intake times.