Time to press panic button on HIV/AIDS in Arunachal!

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Itanagar, May 27 (UNI) The rapidly rising scourge of the 21st century- the HIV/AIDS situation- is proving to be an alarming threat to mankind as revealed in the workshop of Voluntary Health Association Of India (VHAI) held here.

The VHAI has been striving to reduce the spread of the dreaded disease in the state, particularly in Papum Pare district.

The startling facts revealed yesterday that of the total 46 million peopleaffected by the virus in the world, 5.32 million were Indians, of which only 63 were Arunachalees. However, the most disturbing aspectwas that the blood samples collected in Arunachal comprised merely of a few thousand and if more sentinel surveillances, monitoring and data were collected and scrutinised, it was feared that at least 2000 people could be affected with the virus.

Speaking on the occasion and aided by a power-point presentation, additional project director of Arunachal Pradesh AIDS Control Society (APSACS) Dr Hage Tam said the scourge HIV/AIDS was the greatest challenge to mankind, for which concerted efforts were needed from all sections.

He pointed out that the non-curable disease for which no vaccine had been developed yet and which was the greatest epidemic of all time, needed to be intervened now with all possible measures to ensure a bright future.

Arunachal VHAI president Jikom Riba, while urging for a concerted role by the NGOs and government in tackling the situation, pointed out that the onus was on every individual to eradicate this menace. He also appreciated the VHAI for rendering yeoman service in health care sector of the state by managing five PHC in different parts of the state.

VHAI project manager Ajay K.Tripathi said that it was no time to sleep in Papum Pare since 80 per cent of the detected HIV/AIDS cases were recorded from the district and called for timely intervention.

He further said the district comprised large urban, heterogeneous and migratory population that made it all the more vulnerable.

However, explaining that the state was relatively a low prevalence one, he said the threat of HIV/AIDS infection was an impending danger that needed urgent attention from every corner.

Explaining that VHAI respected every religion and their sentiments on sexual choices and habits, Mr Tripathi pointed out that the main objective of VHAI was to sensitise and help the people in halting this looming threat. ''Our basic aim is to help people understand the gravity of the situation and to prevent the situation from deteriorating further'', he commented.

UNI UPB SP AB VC1420

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X