NEW DELHI: Indian and Japanese scientists are working on developing herbal and Ayurvedic formulations to treat the dreaded HIV/AIDS, former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam said here on Monday.

"Indian and Japanese scientists are working together on nearly 60 plant species and have found 16 plant species which have properties to fight AIDS," said Kalam, an eminent scientist himself.

He was speaking at the Southeast Asian conference on Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases after inaugurating it. He, however, did not specify the plant species or the institutes where this research was on.

Kalam said the Army Medical Corps too were working on some formulations based on Ayurveda, ancient Indian system of medicine, to cure HIV/AIDS.

He said herbal medicines are part of "our age-old traditions and we should work on them to treat diseases".

About discrimination against people suffering from AIDS and TB, he said: "HIV-positive students were thrown out of a school in Kerala and many women are thrown out of in-laws place due to TB infection. Discriminations must stop. Every one needs dignity."

India is home to 2.5 million HIV/AIDS patients including over 70,000 children below the age of 14. Similarly, every year at least 320,000 Indians die of TB.

Nearly 500 experts from Southeast Asian countries are in Delhi to participate in the three-day TB and Chest diseases conference here.

Source : DNA