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Wednesday, Dec 01, 2010
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The untold story of HIV positive children

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: On the eve of World AIDS Day, a photo exhibition lending a voice to the untold story of neglect and discrimination of HIV positive children opened at British Council here on Tuesday.

Bangalore-based photographer Srikanth Kolari, whose images focus on a range of social, political and economic issues including the struggles of seasonal migrant workers and sex workers, has come out with a collection of nearly two dozen images in black and white and colour. The photographs capture the vulnerability and denial of rights that the children face every day.

Media ethics

As the media ethics demand that any representation of positive children should not be done without revealing their identity, the exhibition “Suffering Silence: Untold Story of Orphan HIV + Children” uses this challenge to use creative ways to tell the story and connect without compromising on the important message.

According to ActionAid, which is hosting the exhibition in association with British Council, India has a long way to go in ensuring the health and human rights of the poor and vulnerable. Poverty, gender inequalities, violence against women, trafficking, migration and disasters are all fuelling the epidemic.

While inadequate nutrition weakens the body, expensive medicines and poor government health systems make quality treatment out of reach for the majority, particularly in rural areas. Parents die in their prime and even orphaned children are not spared the stigma and discrimination that is often more vicious than the disease.

“Recent years have seen a disturbing trend of rising new infections in women, young people and children, pointing to the epidemic spreading to the general population and in rural areas,” said the non-government organisation.

The exhibition is on view till December 6.

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