Imphal, Jun 13: Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) has submitted a proposal to National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to take up various welfare programmes for HIV positive patients in Manipur during the 3rd phase of the National AIDS Control Programme (NA-CP).

Some of the welfare measures that have been proposed include ensuring ART syrup to HIV positive children and health support care for HIV positive women.

NACP is a World Bank funded project being taken up by NACO since 1992 and is being implemented in collaboration with State AIDS Control Societies concerned.

The second phase of the five-year programme came to close on March 31 this year and the third phase will commence from the last part of the current year.

Speaking on the finer points of NACP to a select group of mediapersons today, Deputy Director of MACS Dr Kh Promodkumar Singh expressed hope that the shortcomings of the 2nd phase may be remedied once the 3rd phase NACP commences.

The welfare programmes for the HIV positive children, women, widows and MSMs etc which were not given much emphasis during the 2nd phase of NACP would be taken care of during the 3rd phase, he said, adding that a proposal to this effect has been submitted to NACO.

As project finalisation of the third phase is still under process, the programmes of the second phase is still being carried out.

Dr Promodkumar expressed optimism that the difficulty of administering ART drugs to HIV positive children during the phase II would be resolved in the 3rd phase by arranging facilities to provide ART syrup to them.

A special programme for extending physical and health care support including nutritional supplements to the HIV position women would also be worked out during the 3rd phase of the programme, he said, adding identifying the number of commercial sex workers and their problems would also come under the ambit of the 3rd phase of NACP.

The proposal submitted to NACO also include special programme for the welfare of MSMs in Manipur, MACS Deputy Director informed.

With the implementation of the 3rd phase of NACP, efforts would also be made for setting up Community Health Care Centres in all districts in addition to the existing six centres.

Side by side, awareness programmes at the community level on care and support system of the HIV patients would also be taken up, Dr Promodkumar said.

In view of the inconveniences faced by the HIV positive people in undergoing test on CD4 count, MACS is considering to provide facilities for free testing, he disclosed.

Pointing out that the biggest threat of spreading HIV/AIDS in Manipur was posed from Injecting Drug Users (IUDs) who accounted for 76 percent of the spread toward the beginning of 1997, Dr Promodkumar observed that by 2005 it has come down to 28 percent.

But now the problem has taken a different dimension with sexual route becoming the common mode of spreading the deadly virus among the general population, he noted.

Till 2004, it has been confirmed that 1.6 percent of the pregnant women who came for testing at RIMS and JN Hospital have become HIV positive and by 2005 it has come down to 1.3 percent, he said, adding the figure shows that the menace of HIV/AIDS in Manipur has been controlled to some extent.

He, however, hastened to add that the number of HIV positive cases in Manipur might come up as the social stigma and discrimination attached to such patients has been reduced and people have started coming out voluntarily to undergo testing.

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