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The Kerala High Court has sought the state government's response on the steps taken to ensure that confidentiality of HIV positive patients is not breached while applying for benefits
under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) through Akshaya centres. Justice Devan Ramachandran observed that although a circular has been issued on related aspects, it was not enough and
that concrete steps should be implemented to ensure the privacy of HIV-positive persons. "The learned government pleader is, therefore, directed to obtain specific instructions from the
Government as to the steps/ initiatives required to implement in such manner that the petitioner (an HIV positive person) and similarly placed persons would not be prejudiced on account of
breach of confidentiality," the court ordered. The counsel appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that there was a government order granting certain benefits under the CMRF to
HIV patients and that these benefits have to be applied for by submitting an application to the District Collector (DC). However, in order to do the same, the HIV-infected persons are often
forced to take the assistance of platforms like Akshaya centres to upload their applications and medical documents, since many of such patients belong to the lowest income strata.