AN inspirational 75-year-old who helped establish health facilities in India has travelled there to see how funds to care for people with HIV/AIDS are being spent.

Rita Zacchi, from Worcester, visited India around 15 years ago and was touched by the plight of cancer sufferers, who were literally dying in the streets.

In England, she and pal 58-year-old Lorraine Page, of Malvern, shared a mutual friend - Roland Poggiani - who was dying of a rare lung disease.

He was inspired by Mrs Page's health work there and she promised to build a hospice in Bangalore, southern India, in his memory.

After endless tabletop sales and other fund-raising events, the women raised £400,000 and the site opened in 1999.

The self-supporting site is linked with a hospice in London, which provides medication that is no longer in use here.

Next, they turned their attentions to people with HIV/AIDS. Mrs Zacchi, who had a stroke six years ago, explained the situation faced by the infected.

"Babies were being born to girls with HIV/AIDS - most of whom had been raped and abandoned their babies because they couldn't cope," she said.

"They would be found on rubbish tips and taken to the convent - but when it was discovered they were infected, they couldn't be adopted.

"Nobody would go near them because of the stigma."

The women started the process again - raising enough money to build a clinic where families could be treated.

The Janeve Foundation, on the old leprosy grounds of Summanahalli, Bangalore, opened in 2004.

Unlike the hospice - it is not yet self-supporting.

The money raised by the charity pays for nurses, but funds are still desperately needed to support the clinic.

On Friday, the women set off on a three-week trip - armed with medication.

They will be staying with Mrs Zacchi's `son' Titus, an orphan who she decided to sponsor after her first trip. He is now 28 with a child of his own.

Despite Mrs Zacchi's poor health, she is determined to carry on with her mission.

"I've been given good treatment and I'm still kicking and intend to go on kicking," she said.

The charity has undertaken many other projects - including helping widows of the tsunami. For more information, visit www.janeve.org.uk