Campaign launched for HIV positive patients in NE

Aizawl, Aug 28 (UNI) In order to give psychological support to HIV positive patients, World Vision (India) CARE Project has launched awareness campaign in the AIDS threatened states of Northeast.

CARE would be conducting a series of workshops and seminar for HIV positive people emphasising on the Prevention of Parent To Child Transmission (PPTCT) of HIV and assured them that the babies born of HIV positive parents does not necessarily carry the AIDS virus.

World Vision (I) programme manager Lalthangseii said here that the WVI and the Presbyterian Church Hospital has recently joined hands in the PPTCT programme for a year.

''It surprised us when we found HIV positives in unexpected quarters, which clearly indicates that the disease is much more prevalent than we had believed it was'', she said.

Referring a latest research finding she, however, revealed that only about 40 per cent of babies born from HIV positive parents contract the disease and the chance of contracting the disease is more if the baby born in the normal way through the vaginal canal.

And the best and most safe method to prevent babies born from HIV positive parents was through operation.

Apart from this, babies are most likely to contract HIV through their breast milk.

''Doctors, therefore, have recommended babies born from HIV positive parents not to be breast-fed'', she stated.

Revealing statistics she further stated that at present, there is a high prevalency of HIV positive wives in Champhai district of Mizoram, bordering Myanmar.

Studies have revealed that the wives most likely contracted the disease from husbands who are the philandering type.

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