AIDS spreading in Shajapur in MP

Shajapur, MP, Nov 30 (UNI) Eighty five people were identified to be affected with AIDS and three of them had died due to the fatal disease so far in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh, official sources said today.

After Indore and Ujjain, most number of AIDS patients were present in Shajapur including 48 men and 37 children with most of them being between 21-50 years of age.

Social worker Durgashankar Malviya said AIDS programme was in shambles due to lack of awareness and proper care. A toll free number, 1097, for AIDS and HIV positive patients was not operational in this district.

Rural women still lacked necessary information regarding AIDS.

Dr Malviya demanded the government to make arrangements at block headquarters for examining AIDS instead of district headquarters as was being done presently.

He claimed that illiteracy and lack of awareness were behind the disease.

The district 73 per cent literacy reate with male literacy rate being 74 per cent while female literacy rate being 53 per cent.

UNI XC-PS 1530