On World AIDS Day, people sensitised on disease

On the occasion of “World AIDS Day”, under the guidelines of Civil Surgeon Dr Rajesh Garg, the Health Department in collaboration with Disha, Punjab State AIDS Control Society, organised an awareness seminar at the Nursing School Civil Hospital which was led by District Vaccination Officer Dr Rakesh Chopra.

An AIDS awareness rally was also taken out from the Civil Surgeon’s office by society, which was led by Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr Jyoti Fukela and the vehicle was flagged off by District Vaccination Officer Dr Rakesh Chopra.

District Vaccination Officer Dr Rakesh Chopra said HIV/AIDS is considered one of the most serious diseases worldwide , “World AIDS Day” is celebrated every year on December 1 with the aim of spreading awareness about this disease and its treatment and important things related to it. This time the theme of the day is “Removing Barriers”, Transforming the AIDS Response “ .

The District Vaccination Officer said AIDS is not only a health, but also a social problem, it is important to have awareness among all citizens about diseases like AIDS. Only with proper information can one be protected from this disease. He said it is necessary to get HIV tested for a healthy life because an HIV-infected person can live a healthy life by taking anti-retroviral medicines. These medicines are given free of cost to the patient after starting treatment in ART centres. He said every HIV patient is also tested for TB and jaundice.

District TB Officer Dr Ritu Dadra said HIV/AIDS can be avoided by being aware, so it is very important for every person to know about the causes of the spread of this disease. She said this disease spreads when HIV/AIDS infected blood mixes with the blood of a healthy person in any way - through blood comes from an infected mother to her unborn child, through untested blood transfusion, through sharing of contaminated needles and syringes, through unprotected relationships. She said to avoid this, there is a need to be aware about the reasons .

Deepak Kumar, Clinical Services Officer of the society, also gave information about AIDS and gave a message to stay away from the rumours spread in the society about this disease. During this, “Disha” also distributed nutrition kits.