At the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) being held in Melbourne from July 20th-25th, India HIV/AIDS Alliance is highlighting the vulnerability of marginalised populations with HIV infection that are stigmatised, discriminated against and criminalised and thus devoid of human rights and essential access to basic health services.

Focus Issues
Advocacy against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
The Indian Supreme Court recriminalized same-sex behaviour between consenting adults in December 2013, a reversal of the Delhi High Court ruling five years ago that legalised homosexual behaviour is an obstacle to fulfilling the basic human rights of these populations already underground and highly vulnerable to the epidemic.

Expanded Attention on Women who Inject Drugs
Women who inject drugs in India remain largely neglected in the current HIV response. Marginalised and at risk, these women have inadequate access to services and information they need to protect their health and wellbeing. Unsafe sexual behaviour and shared injecting equipment increase their risk for HIV and hepatitis C infection.

Massive Scale-up of Care & Support for PLHIV in India
HIV treatment is a lifelong commitment. As more people get on treatment in India and elsewhere, it becomes increasingly urgent to ensure that people living with HIV on treatment are provided the care and support they need to thrive. India has committed to getting more than one million PLHIV on treatment by the end of 2015. This will require a scale-up of ART Centres and related expansion of care and support across the country.

Investing in the HIV & AIDS Response: A Gap for Communities and Civil Society
After South Africa and Nigeria, India has the world's third highest caseload with 2.1 million people living with HIV. As international funders reduce investments in Middle Income Countries, it is expected that national governments, including India, should step up to fund the response to HIV/AIDS. While the Government of India has committed to a budget in which it covers 75 percent of the cost of the new national strategy with domestic funds, actual spend is difficult to monitor. Although the country has made great progress in the last decade, there is growing evidence that the epidemic is no longer stable with increasing HIV incidence in areas of the country earlier considered low prevalence.