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Pros And Cons Of Hiv / AIDS ( Prevention And Control Act

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Findings The HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 has certain lacunas or shortcomings. At one place the Act tried to recognize lot of rights to HIV/AIDS patients but on other hand the contentious clause ‘as far as possible” [ ] dilutes it from being legal right as it only obliges the government to take measure to provide the services as to diagnostic facilities, ART therapy and opportunistic, clearly indicating that it does not make this available to people as a matter of right. Section 46(2)(e) provides that the State may lay down guidelines for providing such treatment, thus leaving the entitlement completely in the hands of executive authorities thereby further, defeating the purpose of universal precautions. [ ] The insurance industry is allowed to use actuarial calculations to limit access to products to people with HIV.[ ] Though the Act provides for the grievance redressal mechanism, the wordings used “in such manner and within such time as may be prescribed” further dilutes the objective with which the Act is introduced, as it defeats the whole purpose of the Act by not prescribing procedure and time frame for disposal of complaints.[ ] The Act passed by the Parliament actually fails to bring a longevity and sustainability considering the basic demands of the HIV/AIDS patients/victims. Provisions of chapter V, VI and VII wherein powers of establishments, central and state government to take measures shows how in terms of availability and accessibility the Act fails to improve or strengthen the existing mechanism. The Act promises free ART treatment, however at the backdrop of severe budget cut by UN on funding for HIV/AIDS programmes, it clearly seems a distant dream as it has severely affected the availability of the drugs, kits, etc. [ ]Although free antiretroviral treatment, or ART, has been provided in India since 2004, the uptake remains low. Further, these clinics are neither easily accessible nor economically, physically or informationally available, has added to the complications. [ ] The General Assembly of United Nations, recalling and reaffirming its commitments on HIV/AIDS, has adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) to address the problems of HIV/AIDS in all its

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