The union health ministry may launch a comprehensive package of services, including preventive and interventions for counselling and treatment for HIV/AIDS infected persons. Simultaneously, a massive capacity building, awareness and counselling campaign shall be launched all over the country with the help of public health professionals.

Speaking at the National Youth Leaders convention on HIV/AIDS here, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “Our goal is to ensure that in the next two years our health delivery system will be restructured to provide a comprehensive package of services to the community and to HIV infected persons.”

Dr. Singh said the National AIDS Control programme should be mainstreamed into the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as an integral part of the National Rural Health Mission and implemented efficiently through the available public health network.

“Our Government is committed to providing leadership to the National AIDS Control efforts. We have made this commitment in various international declarations and in our National Common Minimum Programme. For translating this commitment to reality, we need to think boldly and set the bar far higher,” Dr. Singh added.

Prime Minister also said that with the rapid march of technology, the cost of detecting HIV/AIDS as well as the medication required to keep the disease under control, are going down. But pace is not good enough. Prices must come down further to make these drugs more affordable and accessible to all. We must also sensitize our pharmaceutical industry to expand basic research to produce low cost drugs and vaccines. We need to strengthen our delivery systems to provide treatment for this disease even while minimizing drug resistance.

The PM focused that the HIV/ AIDS control programme is a major management challenge, which needs fresh ideas, a bold vision and an effective strategy to mobilise the vast latent potential of civil society in the war against HIV/AIDS.

The Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss and the Minister of State for Health Panabaka Lakhshmi attended the convention.