New Delhi, Delhi, India

HIV taught me to be brave and do something to help others who have AIDS, said Chinmay Modi, who is fighting AIDS since he was nine.

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“When I first came to know that I am HIV-positive, my world turned upside down. But I was too young to understand all that. Relatives came at our place but looked at me like I was an untouchable,” Modi said at an interactive session in New Delhi on Thursday, on the eve of the World AIDS Day.

World AIDS Day on December 1 is dedicated to raising awareness about the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

Modi, now 25, said his family used to lock him up in a room and he was served food in different utensils. “I face ostracisation at school and it was the most difficult part of the disease,” Modi said.

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"There is a section of society which accepts you and there is also another section which does not let you live freely. But, one should make public one's status and say proudly that yes, I am living a healthy lifestyle," he added. Modi is now working to ensure that "no other Chinmay has to face all this".

The event was conducted by the American Centre, in collaboration with the Centres for Disease Control, the US Agency for International Development, the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Health expert and professor of medicine at AIIMS, Naveet Wig, was also a part of the event where he said HIV has taught mankind how to improve its health systems and this knowledge can be used to counter other diseases.

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"There is a need to integrate all healthcare programmes, so that our resources are used efficiently,” Wig said.

Wig advised people to get themselves tested for HIV.

"The earlier, the better. There is a need for the people to realise this," he said, adding that the stigma surrounding the disease made life even more difficult for those affected by it.

Scientist Huma Qureshi said sooner or later, the world would have a vaccine for HIV.