New Delhi: The HIV/AIDS bill, which aims to protect the rights of people living with the dreaded disease, is yet to be introduced in parliament, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Friday.
Azad said the "contents of the bill" are being examined.
"Representations have been received, primarily from NGOs and networks of people living with HIV, for introduction of the Bill in parliament," he said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
He said that at the moment the "draft of the bill is being examined by the department of AIDS control." The department is under his ministry.
The Health Ministry had prepared the bill in August 2007. It was then sent to the Law Ministry, which cleared it in March 2010. Since then, the bill is pending with the Health Ministry.
For the last five years, groups working in the field of HIV, including the HIV- positive people, have been demanding early passage of the bill.
IANS
First Published: Friday, August 19, 2011, 20:30