New ART centres to be set up
Rallies, awareness programmes, mark World AIDS Day
Six new link Anti Retroviral Treatment centres will be started in Tamil Nadu, taking their total to 90, Health Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said. Also, two ART centres will be set up, one each in Tirupattur and Manapparai.
The link centres will help take life-saving drugs closer to the people, she explained. On the whole, there were a total of 41 ART Centres, and two more centres to supply second line ART drugs had been started at Madurai and Tirunelveli recently. HIV was one sector in which there was constant co-ordination between various government departments – health, social welfare, school education, higher education, police, and tourism.
“It is essential to reach every one in order to make sure they utilise all the facilities available and are able to enjoy a good quality of life,” she said, at the World AIDS Day function organised by the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, here on Thursday. Unless awareness is given importance it would not be possible to reach the goal of “Getting to Zero – zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths,” Ms. Vaidyanathan said.
Health Minister V.S.Vijay, in response to a request from S. Noori, of the South India Positive Network, said that the government would consider starting an ART centre in Madras Medical College or Kilpauk Medical College.
There were an estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world, Dr. Vijay said. Five million people living with HIV/AIDS were from India, and one lakh from Tamil Nadu. He pointed out that Tamil Nadu had achieved a steep fall in prevalence of HIV infections – from 10 per cent in 2001, to 0.3 per cent currently.
The Minister released the Tamil Nadu Profile on HIV/AIDS, and distributed prizes to school and college students who had won competitions conducted to observe World AIDS Day.
Mayor Saidai. S. Duraisamy said it was Tamil Nadu that had set up the first State AIDS Control Society in the country. Maxwell Hamilton, Political and Economic Officer, United States Consulate, also acknowledged the State's position in the forefront of the battle against HIV/AIDS. He also recalled the collaborations between India and the US in the sector.
A.C.Mohandoss, director, TNSACS, said it was essential for people living with HIV to remember that going in for treatment early would ensure a good quality of life. He also cautioned against suspending or giving up ART drugs.
AIDS Prevention and Control Project director Bimal Charles, TAI – VHS project director, R. Lakshmibai, Tamil Nadu Network of Positive Persons S.Kousalya spoke. Earlier, a public event was organised at the Marina, in which US Consul General Jennifer McIntyre joined actor Karthi, and hundreds of students from Red Ribbon Clubs in forming a human chain. A bike rally was flagged off from Gandhi Statue to Thiruvanmiyur.
Dr. Vijay also inaugurated an awareness rally organised jointly by the 1 Tamil Nadu Medical Unit NCC and Madras Medical College. Cadets also formed a human chain along Poonamallee High road, holding aloft posters and banners on HIV. At the Tamil Nadu Government Dental College and Hospital, the NSS team organised an event. Principal KSGA Nasser presided.
A bike rally was organised as a joint effort by Indian Community Welfare Organisation, Rotary District 3230 and REACH, here. Posters on World AIDS Day and HIV-TB co-infection were released on the occasion.
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