Kerala reserves govt job for HIV-positive - report

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Kerala government has reserved a job for a HIV-positive candidate, a step that has won praise for its sensitivity towards patients afflicted with the killer virus, The Times of India said on Wednesday.

The Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS) said they had issued advertisements for the post of coordinator -- to be filled by an HIV-positive candidate.

"It will also help us send our message in a better way as the channel of communication will be better," the society’s project director Usha Titus told the newspaper.

Voluntary organisations in India working in the field of AIDS prevention have welcomed the initiative in a country which accounts for roughly half the estimated HIV-infected population in Asia with 2.47 million cases.