SHRI SINHA ANNOUNCES SPECIAL SESSION FOR BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT ON HIV/AIDS

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Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Shatrughan Sinha said that India recognizes the gravity of AIDS epidemic and there is a commitment at the highest political level to combat it aggressively. He announced that he would arrange a special session of both houses of the Indian Parliament to sensitize the members of Parliament and reinforce their role and commitment to the cause. The Minister was co-chairing the Plenary Session of the International Conference on HIV/AIDS focusing on "Prevention Strategies for 21^st Century" in Barcelona, here today.

He said that a major component of an effective strategy for preventing or slowing the transmission of HIV is the importance of a crash programme to develop vaccine against AIDS. Informing the participants at the 14^th International Conference on HIV/AIDS at Barcelona, Shri Sinha said that Indian scientists have developed a prototype vaccine against the HIV-1C subtype prevalent in India and pre-clinical toxicity trials are expected to start within a year. Pending such a vaccine the focus must be to spread the awareness about AIDS and knowledge of prevention techniques particularly in rural people and migrant labours.

Shri Sinha emphasized the need to develop an appropriate regional strategy to fight HIV/AIDS and also informed to convene a meeting of Health Ministers of SAARC and South East Asia countries.

Appreciating the contribution by Indian Drug Companies towards supplying generic anti-retroviral drugs to the world at prices lower than the drug multinationals, Shri Sinha said that at current prices, the supply of such drugs freely to all persons living with AIDS in India was not a viable option unless international financing was forthcoming. The Minister said that the collection for the US $ 10 billion fund to counter AIDS which was agreed by 189 countries at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on HIV/AIDS has been disappointing so far. Implementation by the richer countries of their commitment is crucial for a comprehensive international strategy to combat the global scourge.

The International Conference on HIV/AIDS takes place every two years. The Barcelona conference was attended by 15000 participants including the representatives for NGOs. Shri Sinha stated that India would be happy to host the 16^th International Conference on AIDS in 2006.