NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - Two government employees and a charity worker in India’s western region of Maharashtra have been caught trying to sell HIV/AIDS test kits, supposed to be given free to counselling centres in the area, the Times of India reported on Monday.
The rapid testing kits - which can reveal a person's HIV status in less that 30 minutes - were provided by the government to the HIV/AIDs counselling centres for conducting free tests, according to the newspaper.
However, officials said that a counsellor and lab technician working for the government, together with an outreach worker from a local charity, were found trying to sell the kits for around 2,500 rupees ($50).
An official from the Mumbai District Aids Control Society, which had distributed the kits to counselling centres, said authorities had given "stricter orders on the already stringent protocols about the distribution and use of the kits to curb any such incident in future".
About 2.5 million people are infected with HIV in India where the disease is predominantly spread by unprotected heterosexual sex, according to international health groups.
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