Jathas, education programmes mark World AIDS Day
HIV cases: Rise in incidence among youth a concern
Stressing on the theme ‘Getting to Zero’, the department of health and family welfare and various other forums observed the World AIDS Day in Mysore and other districts in the region.
Mayor Pushplatha B Chikkanna inaugurated the World AIDS Day programme organised at the JSS school premises in Saraswathipuram. The programme was jointly organised by the district health office, District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit on Thursday.
District health officer M Malegowda said the high prevalence rate of HIV among the youth population was a cause of concern for the health department. About 80 per cent of those infected are in the age group of 15 and 24 years, he said.
He said a total of 3,75,769 people were screened for HIV infection in the district between the year 2002 and October 2011 out of which 15,887 tested positive.
Among the total positive cases, 841 were pregnant women and a majority of them turned out to be youth. The health department would run a education programme ‘Ondu Hejje’ in schools and colleges and amidst the general population for the next 42 days in a bid to bring awareness about the disease, he said.
He said the women and child welfare department paid a assistance of Rs 940 for HIV infected children. All hospitals have been advised to provide free service to HIV infected pregnant women, he said.
ZP CEO Satyavati said each and every individual of the community should make sincere efforts to prevent HIV cases. There should be HIV awareness programme throughout the year, she said.
JSS Nursing College principal Sheela Williams, CEO of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement M A Balasubramanya, district AIDS control officer T Raghu Kumar, Dr Swamy, Dr Sandeep, Gowramma of Ashodaya, members of Asha Kirana, Prerana, Ananda Jyothi and others were present.
In Hassan
The district administration in association with zilla panchayat, department and health and family welfare, district AIDS prevention and control unit and other social organisations working towards HIV prevention and awareness hosted a programme in the city on Thursday.
S T Anjan Kumar, chief executive officer of zilla panchayat, stressed on the need for active awareness programme to sensitise the people on HIV-AIDS. “The district has been ranked 17 th in AIDS prevalence rate, while the state stands sixth in the HIV infection in the country. There is a need for more aggressive programmes to contain the disease,” he said.
“There are about 3.5 crore people infected with HIV virus worldwide and about 2.5 crore live in India. About 2.56 lakh people are affected in the state,” he said adding that the disease has posed a challenge for the medical fraternity in the last three decades.
Dr Sudhir of Vivekananda Youth movement delivered a lecture. DHO Dr Bheeshmachar and others were present.
In Mandya
“The society should bring a hope to HIV infected patients by way of boosting their confidence to live with the disease and bring an awareness on HIV prevention,” said deputy commissioner Dr P C Jaffer.
He was speaking after inaugurating a programme organised to mark the World AIDS Day at Kalamandira here on Thursday. “The society should give an opportunity for the HIV infected people to live as normal people. The community should change its perspective towards HIV patients and stop isolating them,” he said.
Medical superintendent of district hospital Dr Ramalinge Gowda, district training institute principal Dr Jayakumar, MIMS faculty Dr Subhash, DHO Dr T S Marigowda, district AIDS nodal officer Dr M Nagaraju and others were present. Students from various engineering colleges took out a rally.
