Yet HIV/AIDS-affected children, including those living with the disease, are nearly invisible in the Indian government's policy response to the country's devastating epidemic. Children affected by HIV/AIDS are being discriminated against in education and health services, denied care by orphanages, and pushed onto the streets and into the worst forms of child labor. Gender discrimination makes girls more vulnerable to HIV transmission and makes it more difficult for them to get care. Many children, especially the most vulnerable, as well as the professionals who care for them, are not getting the information about HIV they need to protect themselves or to combat discrimination. This report documents abuses against India's HIV/AIDS-affected children and calls on the Indian government to recognize their plight and to take immediate action to protect them from discrimination and exploitation.
All of India's states have reported AIDS cases, and in at least six states, according to the government, HIV/AIDS has spread beyond persons considered "high risk" to the general population. Among young children especially, perinatal transmission is the most common source; however, children in India are also acquiring HIV through sexual contact, including sexual abuse; blood transfusions; and unsterilized syringes, including injection drug use. Most of those dying of AIDS are between fifteen and forty-nine years old, the age when many are raising children. The number of AIDS orphans has not been adequately measured, but some calculate more than a million children under age fifteen in India have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and that the numbers are growing.