Children display ribbon cut-outs tied to balloons during an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign to mark World AIDS Day in Kolkata December 1, 2014. The world has finally reached "the beginning of the end" of the AIDS pandemic that has infected and kille
Children display ribbon cut-outs tied to balloons during an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign to mark World AIDS Day in Kolkata December 1, 2014. The world has finally reached "the beginning of the end" of the AIDS pandemic that has infected and killed millions in the past 30 years, according to a leading campaign group fighting HIV. United Nations data show that in 2013, 35 million people were living with HIV, 2.1 million people were newly infected with the virus and some 1.5 million people died of AIDS. By far the greatest part of the HIV/AIDS burden is in sub-Saharan Africa. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

An 8-year-old boy, dubbed as Kunkun by the media, was targeted and shunned by villagers in the southwestern province of Sichuan because he was HIV-positive. His mother left the village in 2006 and his father left after Kunkun's diagnosis of HIV came, and so the boy was left under the care of his grandfather, Luo Wenhui.

Two hundred villagers, which includes Kunkun's grandfather, signed a petition to expel the young boy from the village. The villagers cited the reason that they were protecting the health of the villagers. There was no definite answer yet if the boy would face expulsion from the impoverished village. The move of the villagers was met with anger on the internet because of the prejudice and ignorance of the people in the village.

Sina Weibo is a microblogging service which is similar to Twitter in Chinese. One of its user posted that it was terrible that the villagers were under-educated. The user mentioned that the villagers need to be sent to school as well. Another user on the Weibo posted that it was strange that no one was condemning the parents. He added that the parents were irresponsible and that they could be charged for a crime related to abandonment in foreign countries.

The United Nations, an intergovernmental agency that has been set up for the purpose of promoting international co-operation, said that it was concerned about the case and that the incident highlighted the stigma as well as discrimination that was attached to the HIV virus. It added that both stigma and discrimination were the biggest enemies in a battle to end the virus.

The health ministry in China have said that they would provide medical care as well as a living expenses for the young boy, reported China Daily. Beijing had promised to ensure that Kunkun got an education. The promise came in after media reports came in that Kunkun was having trouble finding a school for himself.

In addition to promising to ensure Kunkun finds a school, the ministry has also taken a pledge that they would conduct spot checks in China. The purpose of the spot checks would be to expose violations of the policies of anti-discrimination that had been set by the government.

Contact the writer: afza.kandrikar@gmail.com