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Journalism of Courage
The Government is setting up the National Council on AIDS to issue policy directives and monitor the country’s AIDS control programme. The PM will head the council.
Conceived by the Joint Working Group on AIDS six months ago, the formation of the council is seen as a step to provide ‘‘national leadership to the AIDS control programme’’, as promised by the UPA Government in its CMP.
Officials said the council will meet every four or six months. Thirty ministers from Defence, Home Affairs, Human Resource and Development, Health, Labour, Labour, Highways and Transport ministries, among others, will be on the council. ‘‘The ministries have an important role. They will be asked to formulate an action plan in their own budget and setup,’’ said an official.
The council will have representatives from seven states, including CMs of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra and UP, as well as 15 experts from various fields and NGO representatives. ‘‘International organisations like WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF will also be special invitees,’’ the official added.
