Spread awareness about AIDS: CM

Shimla, Dec 1 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today stressed upon the need for spreading more awareness about AIDS among the masses, especially among the children, saying prevention was better than cure.

Presiding over a function to mark the World Aids Day here, he expressed satisfaction over the health condition in the state as compared to other states and called upon the voluntary associations to spread more awareness about the disease among the masses.

Mr Singh also flagged off the Red Brigade AIDS Awareness Rally on the occasion, besides a rally by the schoolchildren of the schools of the town.

The state's vast health network and trained manpower has been instrumental in providing best health facilities to the people who otherwise had to visit the neighbouring states for their treatment, he said.

He said 18 Targeted Intervention Projects were being implemented for the high risk groups in the state, besides 71 STI clinic locations being rationalised and strengthened.

In order to create awareness amongst the young generation, School and College AIDS Education Programmes were being implemented in 912 High and Senior Secondary Schools besides 2,147 teachers and 2,026 peer educators were being trained, he said.

He said in order to keep pace with the modem technology, tele-counseling services have been started from Shimla, Hamirpur, Dharamshala, Solan, Bilaspur and Mandi towns of the state, benefiting 45,069.

About 69.31 per cent blood donors in the state were volunteer blood donors who had supplied blood to 13 blood banks all over the state, he said.

He said efforts were on to open three more blood banks in various hospitals of the state.

As many as 13 voluntary counseling and HIV testing centres were functioning in Himachal at the district headquarter level and at IGMC, besides one Community Care Centre had been established at Chamba, besides one Anti-Retroviral Treatment Centre at the IGMC, Shimla, he added.

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