TNN

Bangalore, Aug 14: The number of people living with HIV in India runs into the millions. Yet, insurance companies have largely ignored them, till now.

On Wednesday August 13, a group health insurance plan was launched for 250 HIV-affected people, the first of its kind. The scheme is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Project Connect, a programme designed to build public-private partnership to combat HIV and tuberculosis in India.

Population Services International (PSI), an NGO, in partnership with Star Health and Allied Insurance Company and the Karnataka Network for Positive People (KNP+) launched the scheme.

The policy, not available to individuals, will be given to a group of about 300. In Karnataka, the policy has been given to 250 applicants from six districts — Bellary, Mangalore, Mandya, Udupi, Kolar and Mysore.

K Sujatha Rao, director general, National AIDS Control Organization (Naco), said they were also trying to work on a policy that would explore the possibility of getting applicants to start saving for medical treatment.

There will be 175 link centres in the state, she said. Naco has a budget of Rs 11,000 crore this year, Rs 150 crore of it being spent on information and communication.