Indian pre-school kicks out HIV-positive boy

A four-year-old HIV-positive boy was asked to leave a nursery school in southern India after parents of other children complained, in the latest in a series of similar cases. Vamsikrishna's father, who used to sell toddy, a locally brewed alcoholic drink, died two years ago with AIDS. The boy, who like many Indians uses only one name, is being raised by his mother. After being turned away from several schools in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Vamsikrishna was admitted to a government pre-school on the outskirts of the state capital Hyderabad. Two days ago the school teacher called the mother and asked her to take her son somewhere else as parents of other children in the locality were objecting. The government has promised to admit her boy in a school run by a non-government organisation. According to the United Nations, 5.7 million Indians are living with HIV/AIDS - the world's largest caseload. Sufferers continue to suffer widespread stigma. Andhra Pradesh has a high incidence of HIV with over two percent of the total urban population thought to be infected. Last week, five HIV-positive children were asked to leave a school in southern Kerala state after protests from the parents of other children.