JOIN US The State government will set up a rehabilitation and a research centre for
HIV- infected and affected children at Belgaum for which 250 acres of land (40 km from the city) has been identified, said Medical Education Minister S A Ramdas.
Addressing a gathering at the release of a documentary ‘Me, Myself and My Gender’ by Ashodaya Samiti here on Wednesday, the minister said Rs one crore has been allotted for the purpose.
He further said that “about 300 children are identified to be rehabilitated.
“The centre will be a residential school which will provide all the facilities including treatment. The Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI) will manufacture nutritious food for these children. The project will be launched before the Belgaum session of the legislature” the minister added.
Mobile clinics
The Union health ministry has already agreed to provide five red buses with doctors and antiretroviral therapy (ART) facility to the State. The bus which will be launched shortly, will travel to even the remote places in the State.
Ramdas said that elected representatives - MLAs and MLCs - will adopt HIV positive children in terms of taking care of their needs. At present, 14 MLAs have adopted five children who were orphaned due to HIV.
‘Me, Myself and My Gender,’ the documentary deals with the third gender including men having sex with men (MSM) and transgender (TG) community living in Mysore, Belgaum and Bellary. The film also documents their fight against stigma and discrimination.
Pilot project
Ashodaya Samithi’s pilot study titled Differ (Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Enhanced Reproductive health) was also launched on the occasion.
The pilot study aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH).
Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said the documentary focuses on some of the issues that were never discussed openly in public.
“Several organisations working for persons with HIV have urged the government to bring in policy changes in dealing with HIV patients in the health system,” he added.
He promised to hold consultations with the organisations to evolve a policy in this regard.