India to Step Up Fight Against HIV in Children

India launched a drive on Tuesday to supply drugs to tens of thousands of mothers and newborns to stop HIV transmission to infants.

India has the world's third highest HIV caseload, after South Africa and Nigeria, with around 2.5 million people living with the virus -- of whom around 70,000 are under 15 years old.

The government said at least 21,000 children are infected each year through mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

"One of the constraints is the higher number of home deliveries, making access a problem," said Health Secretary Naresh Dayal, at the launch of an anti-AIDS policy aimed at pregnant women, mothers and children.

More than half of Indian women deliver at home, the vast majority without help from medical professionals.

Since its first reported HIV case in 1986, the Indian government has given drugs to around 20,000 women and newborns to prevent HIV transmission.

Officials say they aim to push up the number to nearly 76,000 by 2010 by expanding health services in rural areas in order to determine the HIV status of a greater number of pregnant women.

If untreated, roughly one-in-four newborns get the virus from their infected mothers, either during birth or soon after.

Across the world, around 2.3 million children are living with HIV.

Yet only around 10 percent of those who need treatment receive it, UNICEF says, adding that the others face a "bleak and short-lived future".

India is providing around 6,500 children with paediatric drugs to combat HIV and says is involved in the "difficult task" of trying to identify thousands more who may be in need of drugs.

It is also planning to introduce long-pending legislation this year to prevent HIV discrimination, as several cases of schools refusing admission to HIV-positive children or asking those enrolled to leave have been reported.

Other children have been told by relatives they would not inherit family property because of their HIV status.

"Anybody who hesitates to reach out to somebody with HIV is truly ignorant and should be labelled as such," Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury said.