Imphal, June 30: Notwithstanding the political divide and different ideological affiliations, legislators of the Manipur Legislative Assembly have joined hands to combat the menacing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Manipur.

The State legislators have resolved to fight the disease collectively with all available resources.

During a conclave held today at the Assembly Hall, the legislators also adopted a 15 point declaration to effectively counter the epidemic�s challenges.

The conclave, among others, was also addressed by Union MoS Labour and convener of Parliamentary Forum on AIDS Dennis Brown, Coordinator of UNAIDS � India and Assembly speaker Sapam Budhichandra.

According to Manipur AIDS Control Society (MACS) Manipur is one of the six high HIV/AIDS prevalence States in the country having 25, 905 HIV positives as recorded till March this year.

Of the total figure, 45 .57 percent are infected through multiple needle sharing by Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs), while unprotected sexual and mother to child transmissions accounted for the rest.

The State's long porous boundary with Myanmar has been providing a safe route to smugglers for smuggling in drugs particularly heroin from the infamous Golden Triangle resulting in its easy availability to the youths of the State.

The conclave also resolved to constitute a State Legislators' Forum on HIV/AIDS to facilitate, review and monitor the State�s response to the epidemic and consolidate actions.

The elected representatives declared that they would adopt special measures to protect youth and children and address the vulnerability of women to the epidemic through gender sensitive empowerment programmes.

Union Minister Oscar Fernandez said �Today is a happy day for me as all the State�s legislators have come out to put a stop on HIV/AIDS�.

Stating that the country has received tremendous support from the various international funding agencies to combat the epidemic, Fernandez said the political leaders should take their collective decision to make a headway in the fight.

Governor Dr SS Sidhu observed that AIDS has become as a serious public health emergency in Manipur.

Since the epidemic has percolated down to the into general population from IDUs through sexual route, special attention should be given to women and children who have become victims of the dreaded disease, unwittingly in most cases.

He said � We are seeing increasing incidence of HIV epidemic among women and children�.

The campaign aimed at redressing stigma and discrimination and rights violations which are often associated with HIV infection needs to be strengthened, asserted the Governor.

Chief Minister O Ibobi said the State Government has been on a war footing in combating the epidemic.

MACS was established way back in 1998 and the State AIDS policy has been adopted after which AIDS committee has also been set up in all districts and that five Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres have also been opened, mentioned Ibobi.

Various other issues related with the global pandemic were also discussed during the conclave organized by Constella Future Group and MACS under the sponsorship of Manipur Legislative Assembly.

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