Scheme to grant monthly financial assistance to children affected by HIV/AIDS launched
The Health department on Tuesday launched one of its key budget announcements to grant monthly financial assistance of ₹1,000 to 7,618 children affected by HIV/AIDS for their education, medical and nutritional needs.
Health Minister Ma. Subramanian, who launched the scheme at an event held to mark the World Blood Donors Day, said that during 2009-2010, former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had launched a trust fund for children affected by HIV/AIDS with a corpus of ₹5 crore.
Through this, financial assistance was being provided every year for children aged below 18 years towards their education, medical and nutritional needs. This year, an announcement was made during the department's debate on the demand for grants for 2025-2026 to provide monthly assistance of ₹1,000 to children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Along with this, the department also launched 11 Red Ribbon Clubs to create awareness on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections among college students. An announcement to create awareness of HIV/AIDS among adolescents - students of classes VIII, IX and XI in 9,830 schools in the State - was made earlier. In a step towards this, it was decided to impart life skills training to students of 100 schools. The initiative was launched in 11 schools on the occasion, a press release said.
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