Source: The Sangai Express
Ukhrul, March 24:
Scores of NGOs including TMNL, TSL, HKL, NPMHR & VANNTKOJ Society of Tangkhul have expressed deep concern over the high rate of HIV infection in the district and the recent news item carried in The Sangai Express which pegged the infection rate at 1 pc of the total population of the district.
As per the report published in this paper on the March 15 issue, out of the 1380 samples screened in Ukhrul district, 43.26 pc were found positive.
Experts had stated that this high prevalence could mean that 1 pc of the total population of the district could be HIV positive.
A number of prominent social workers have lamented that despite the recent revelation and the alarming situation in Ukhrul, the nodal agency of the State has not yet taken up any measures to counter the threat in the district.
No RIAC programme in Ukhrul Dist has been taken up even though it has been implemented in the State, they pointed out.
The social workers said that since 2000, five NGO�s were registered under the Manipur Aids Control Society but no intervention programme has ever been initiated by the said NGOs.
They further said that funds under DAO, are not appropriate as it is worked out only on the basis of city and town, forgetting the villages.
Coming down heavily on MACS, the social workers said that as far as Ukhrul is concerned, intervention programmes on HIV/ AIDS exist only on paper.
They also questioned the sincerity of MACS in tackling the issue at hand and observed that till today no strategic planning has been taken up in the district.
However the apathy of the Govt has not dampened the spirit of the social workers, who said that October last year efforts have been taken up on a war footing to sensitise the people to the threat of the virus.
A search has also been launched to utilise the services of sponsors and fund- ing agencies to treat drug addicts in the district and to neutralise the the threat posed by drugs.