People living with HIV/AIDS in India have no access to life insurance, unlike those in countries like the UK and US.

In a workshop organized to draw attention to the plight of HIV/AIDS patients and reduce the stigma associated with the disease, experts urged government and insurance firms to work towards ensuring that the discrimination they suffers ends.

They called for the provision of life insurance policies for those diagnosed with the illness too.

Even after testing positive, they argued, many of those suffering the disease still continue to live a normal life and are able to live longer.

Despite this, organizers of the workshop claimed, very few life cover providers offer policies to people living with AIDS.

“It is regrettable, however, that not a single one of them has come forward to provide cover for the people living with AIDS,” lamented managing trustee of the organizer, Genesis Welfare Trust, P Thangathurai.