New Delhi: Condemning the recent incident of a Madurai school discriminating against a 12-year-old HIV positive student, senior Director of Global Advocacy and Policy, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Terri Ford on Wednesday said every child has the right to education and right to live freely in this country. ‘We need to stop this discrimination, which is not only happening in Asian countries like India and Nepal, but is prevalent among developed countries like the US,’ Ms Ford said a press conference organised by AHF and its Indian partner AHF-India Cares at the Press Club here. According to media reports, a primary school in Madurai had recently barred entry to a 12-year-old student after discovering that he was HIV positive.
The boy alleged that the teacher started discriminating against him after going through a notebook that spelt out his treatment details. The incident came to light when his mother Maliamal, 39, approached an NGO, Madurai Network of Positive People.
In a similar incident, the prestigious Milton Hershey School of Pennsylvania, US recently denied admission to a 13-year-old on the same grounds, Country Programme Manager, AHF India Cares Shibu Cheruvelil said. ‘We should all know the basic facts of safety and transmission. These young boys were not a threat to their classmates. The bigger threat is perpetuation of stigma and discrimination,’ Ford said. ‘Studies have shown that people with HIV on treatment are up to 96 per cent non-infectious. They are not a threat to health and safety of others,’ Mr Abdul Ghaffar, Director, Sun Shine Health and Social Welfare Society said.(UNI)