The HIV/AIDS Bill 2005 (English)

This issue contains:

• A report on the HIV/ AIDS Bill, 2005, outlining the background to drafting the Bill while enumerating reasons for the requirement of Statutory Law on HIV/AIDS and the necessity for India to fulfill its international obligations and commitments.




• Views of various participants, on discrimination faced by PLHAs put forth during nation-wide consultations on the bill conducted by LCHAU involving & learning from representatives of various sectors like HIV+persons, marginalised populations, etc.




• Highlights of the HIV/AIDS Bill 2005, which inter alia include Rights recognised in the HIV/AIDS Bill, informed consent for testing, treatment & research, Right to access treatment, special provisions for women and children.

Proposed ITPA Amendments : A Comment

This issue contains :

• An analysis of the proposed amendments such as decriminalisation of soliciting for sex work, inclusion of separate definition for trafficking, extension of police powers, etc. to the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 (ITPA) from the perspective of sex workers' rights vis-à-vis their ability to negotiate legal protection and claims, which has a significant bearing on efforts to confront the public health crisis that the AIDS epidemic has unravelled.




• A review of the United States HIV/AIDS law that contains an anti-prostitution clause and therefore has serious ramifications for prevention and care efforts with sex workers, who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.




• A report on Brazil's stand against US anti prostitution policy which highlights its refusal of over $ 40 million in HIV/AIDS work as the grant was subject to the condition that Brazil signs a statement condemning prostitution.

The Duty to Disclose : Prospecting Middle Ground :

This issue contains :

• An analysis of the issue of imposing a duty to disclose on HIV-positive persons which considers several related factors like societal interests involved, severity of risk, foreseeability of harm, knowledge of HIV status, burden upon the person infected, likelihood of occurrence and the relationship between the parties.




• A brief analysis of three landmark judgements passed by the Bombay High Court related to an HIV-positive person's right to employment and a note on the Delhi High Court's dismissal of a writ petition which challenged the constitutional validity of S. 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Duty to Disclose

This issue contains :

• An analysis of the existing legal position of the obligation of the people living with HIV/AIDS to reveal their status to partner/s, sexual and/or needle sharing as implied under the Matrimonial law, Criminal law and the Tort law in light of the recent issue of imposing a legal ‘duty to inform HIV-positive status to partner(s) from a public health perspective as well as the viewpoint of PLHAs.




• An analysis of the extent to which the disclosure of status is sufficient to protect the partners in case of marital sex, paid sex and drug use.

Social Security and Hiv/Aids

This issue contains :

• An overview of the Employees State Insurance Scheme, its benefits to employees and their families including comprehensive treatment for HIV/AIDS, its applicability and the nature of its services as well as those provision which are specifically applicable to the context of HIV/AIDS.




• A comment on the Central Government Health Scheme(CHGS), describing the advantages of the scheme for central government employees, which also documents criticism by WHO for poor quality of services.




• A report detailing the various challenges faced by LCHAU and the various aspects that had to be looked into in the process of drafting of the HIV/AIDS Bill.