Alarm over closure of programme for HIV kids

New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) Civil society members Friday voiced concern over a major programme targetting HIV positive children facing closure due to financial constraints and called for efforts to save the scheme.

Chaha, a programme run by international NGO Alliance, is set to close in March 2011. It presently reaches almost 60,000 children in four states.

'The programme, which started in 2007, has so far reached nearly 60,000 children in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur and Tamil Nadu,' Chaha director Sonal I. Mehta told IANS.

'The programme is set for closure in March next year, and we are worried about the future of the children attached to it,' she said.

'The ending of the programme will leave thousands unreached while those who are under its care will lose their support,' she said.