Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar yesterday had lunch with HIV positive children in a bid to dispel the myth that HIV can spread through touch.
"I will provide all the support for these children. I am here to eradicate the belief that HIV spreads through touching or sharing a meal," Parrikar said after eating with the children at their orphanage.
"I will eat from a common plate with an HIV-positive child to prove my belief that the disease is not transmittable by casual contact. If HIV were spread by physical contact then every human being would test positive. It does not spread like a common cold," he added.
This move comes weeks after a school in Goa suspended the HIV children after parents of unaffected students demanded their removal.