World AIDS Day: HIV prevalence in Nagaland seven times higher than national average

December 2, 2020 70 Views No Comment

Morung Express news
Kohima | December 1

While India’s HIV epidemic is slowing down now standing at an average of 0.2%, Nagaland continues to be seven times higher the national average at 1.45%, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) and Chairperson, Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS) Amardeep Singh Bhatia said on Tuesday.

“The prevalence is largely among the general population,” he said, underscoring the need to increase testing in collaboration with National Health Mission. He was speaking as special guest during the observation of World AIDS Day at the Directorate of H&FW, Kohima.

Among pregnant woman, 100% coverage need to be ensured to bring down transmission rate, he added.

Stating that the intervention of the government, support from NGO partners, community and faith based organisations have helped in reducing the prevalence to quite a large extend, Bhatia noted that “incidences have come down substantially because of the intervention and partnership at the state and national level.”

The government department and its agencies in the last 20 years have also made considerable achievement, he said while citing good functioning of Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) dedicated towards testing and treatment in the state; blood banking facilities, among others. On the occasion, the Chairperson also reiterated targets that have been set in the past and called on all to ensure that the targets are met.

42 CLHIV & 33 PLHIV families given financial grant
42 Children Living with HIV (CLHIV) and 33 Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) families across the state on the occasion of World AIDS Day were given the special financial grant to support education and livelihood during the programme.

The one-time special financial grant sponsored by NSACS for supporting the education for one academic year is Rs 12,000 and Rs 10,000 for families of PLHIV. 3 children per district and 12 Children in Peren (Rs 3000 each) and 3 families each from all the districts were selected for the scheme, Metevinuo Sakhrie, JD (IEC), NSACS informed.

Almost all the children selected for the grant were either orphans, living with single parent, grandparents or guardians. Most of the families identified and selected were daily wage earners, widows, divorcees, farmers, or unemployed, she said.

Selection Committee was headed by Chief Medical Officers, District level HIV positive networks, the District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU), NGO partners as members, she added.

KNP+ appeals for block level drug dispensing; continued support from legislators, society

Speaking on the occasion, President of KNP+ Yhuni said that during the COVID19 pandemic, many PLHIVs were deprived of timely drugs because of inaccessibility and miscommunication. Towards this, she appealed the government to set up block wise drug dispensing centres and appoint staff, in order to facilitate easy accessibility of drugs for the PLHIVs and address grievances.

She further referred to the disbandment of the Legislators Forum for AIDS (LFA) and called for active involvement of political leaders while reiterating that the community, church and civil societies should ensure a stigma-free society.

Project Director Dr K Vikato Kinimi chaired the programme and Moasungla Jamir, JD, Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA), NSACS also delivered speech. The special prayer for the PLHIV was led by Youth Pastor Kito S Shohe, SBAK.