Kangra tops list with 2,629 HIV+ cases

Ashok Raina

Kangra, November 28

The state has over 9,141 HIV+ cases in all 12 districts with the biggest district, Kangra, topping the list with over 2629 HIV+ cases followed by Hamirpur with 1,824 cases.

Dr S Nikhil Gupta, District AIDS Programme Officer, said this during an awareness programme at Government Degree College at Matour today. He said in the hill state there are 3,531 HIV full-blown cases of AIDS in which Kangra was again topping the list with 1,021 followed by 802 AIDS cases at Hamirpur.

He said a series of awareness activities were being carried out to benefit the younger generation.

Dr Gupta claimed that the AIDS Control Programme was globally acclaimed as a success story. He further added that the HP Health Department was providing free services of integrated counselling at the testing centre, prevention of parent to child transmission for anti-natal mothers, anti-retro viral drugs, link ART centres to patients. He said that AIDS was now a chronically manageable disease like hypertension and asthma and one should not die of AIDS.

He told students that there were mainly two reasons for its spread: first, there was very less public awareness on issues related to HIV and second displaced people and uniformed personnel living away from family life got exploited sexually.

College Principal Rashmi Ramol said awareness among the students and teen-aged boys and girls regarding HIV was of utmost importance. During the programme slogan writing competition was organised for AIDS awareness in which the first prize was bagged by Geetika, Diksha and Chinki, second prize by Neeru and Sapna and third prize was bagged by Payal and Deepika . Prizes were given away to the winners.

HIV full-blown cases

State 3,531

Kangra 1,021

Hamirpur 802