Meira Kumar calls for social counselling centres for AIDS

Coimbatore, Oct 12 (UNI) Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar today called upon State Governments and NGOs to send proposals to start Social Counselling Centres as a part of awareness generation on HIV-AIDS.

Inaugurating a three-day programme on 'National consultation on children and HIV-AIDS in India' at Karal Kubel Institute for Development Education at Mangarai, 30 km from here, she said even after spending billions of rupees for the last 20 years, the spread of HIV was unbated. India had the largest number of people with HIV in the world, though percentage-wise the country had not reached the critical threshold of one per cent of the total population.

HIV-AIDS had set in motion a new type of untouchability and the stigma had led to the most inhuman discrimination. People refused to touch the body of those dying of AIDS. The siblings of those with HIV were thrown out of schools or workplaces, causing serious concern.

She said HIV-AIDS had hit the most productive age group of society and this meant it preyed upon bread-winners.

Ms Meira Kumar said her Ministry had the nodal responsibility to implement drug abuse prevention programmes and it had been recognised that Injective Drug Users (IDUs) were the most important category of people affected by HIV-AIDS. Her Ministry had brought a schematic synergy for this and of 440 deaddiction-cum-counselling centres supported by her Ministry, 200 had been strengthened by providing one additional field worker exclusively to take up counselling.

She said the National Institute of Social Defence had integrated issues relating to drug driven HIV-AIDS in its training programmes.

Instead of flashy media awareness campaigns, Social Counselling Centres should have sensitisation programmes. States and NGOs should start such centres.

Bharathiyar University Vice-Chancellor Thiruvasagam in his address said even after the hard work of NGOs and States, AIDS had not been controlled. This was because of negligence in bringing sex education into primary and higher level, he said, adding, a recent survey in the university had revealed that 65 per cent of students opted for sex education at college level.

The University was revamping its curriculum and under the head of environmental science and human rights, sex education would be an allied subject. Dr Thiruvasagam urged the Government to provide funds to colleges and universities on par with NGOs to work on AIDS.

UNI KS VR AA PB RS1941