Dear all,

I am posting some of my old news onHIV /AIDS published in The Pioneer(Bhubneshwar edition )for your perusal

Yours

SudhirMishra/Pioneer/Balangir

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Saturday, September 19, 2009 | Email | Print | 
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‘Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS response is need of hour’

Pioneer News Service | Balangir

Spread the message about the cause and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the rural areas with thrust on mainstreaming and removal of stigma attached with it, so that the affected persons get the desired relief, observed collector-in-charge Sanjaya Habwada while inaugurating a district-level workshop organised by Action Aid Association on “Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS response in Government departments” here. The detection of 239 HIV positive cases in the district and deaths of 35 persons due to AIDS ever since the beginning of testing and counseling facility reveals that the tentacles of AIDS is spreading rapidly, observed CDMO-in-charge Dr PC Sahu while addressing the participants.

Explaining in detail about HIV/AIDS, its spread and treatment Dr Sahu stressed on better awareness among the masses for prevention of this disease. An Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centre and community care centre would be opened here from the next financial year, Dr Sahu revealed further. Dr Sahu also called upon the NGOs to work dedicatedly so that the spread of this disease is checked effectively.

HIV/AIDS should be perceived as development issue rather than a mere health issue. It is found mostly in the developing countries, rather than in the developed countries, where in people lack basic health care facilities.

Once a person is diagnosed as HIV positive, he/she faces a lot of socio-economic problems which often results in alienation from his/her livelihood. Keeping this in view, the UN Millennium Development Goal (UN MDG) has taken HIV/AIDS as a development issue. Besides the role of NGOs, various Government departments also play a crucial role as they have to formulate rules for HIV/AIDS people, pointed out Santosh Padhy of Action Aid. District resource person Nandi Kishor Sandh spoke in detail about the community outreach model of link worker scheme going on in seven vulnerable blocks of the district.

Effort should be taken to remove the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, observed Binodini Mishra. The AIDS Bill should be placed in the Parliament as early as possible and once the Bill is passed it would go a long way in ensuring rights of HIV-positive people in the country and allow them to lead a dignified life, pointed out Niraj Mishra of Orissa AIDS Solidarity Forum.
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