Non-release of NACO funds has severely affected the operation of 67 AIDS control projects in Manipur, one of the six high-prevalence State in the country.

Even some of the community care centres for people living with HIV have started to close down due to non-availability of adequate fund for their management.

“We’re compelled to close down our centre, as the authority failed to release necessary fund”, Udoi Thongam, a functionary of a 10-bed Community Care Centre, Canchipur, lamented.

As a result, eight out of 10 patients have been ‘discharged’ from the centre which is not getting NACO fund since April last, while the remaining two have been referred to a hospital.

Likewise, many HIV patients out of the State’s 25,000 HIV positives have failed to turn up at the care centres following the non-availability of the drugs, medicines and food. This will not only create a big gap between the HIV patients and the service providers (NGOs) but also force the latter ‘back to square one’.

“We’re afraid because they may go back to their hidden population again”, said Meisnam Pushpakanta, a service provider of ‘Hands for Peaceful Society’. Pushpakanta, being an HIV positive, felt that the entire effort to contain HIV/AIDS epidemic in the State would be ‘useless’ even if 10 per cent of the targeted 40,670 intravenous drug-users including the HIV positive people decide to hide among the general population.

Manipur State AIDS Control Society, which is NACO’s implementing agency had stopped releasing funds to over 50 NGOs working in HIV/AIDS intervention and control programmes here since April last due to alleged threat from the insurgent groups. The annual budget of MSACS is about Rs 20 crore.

When contacted, project director of MSACS, Dr T R Kom said that he is unable to release the funds due to ‘pressure from external forces’. Confirming the receipt of the threat, the officer also admitted that he cannot pronounce any tentative timing for releasing fund for the NGOs.

Meanwhile, none of the Manipur-based outfits have so far claimed responsibility for planting a hand grenade at Dr Kom’s residence on August 31.

Medicine shortage affects Manipur AIDS victims

Manipur Health authority has admitted that they’re unable to provide adequate drugs and medicines for the needy people living with HIV-AIDs. Besides, monitoring of the surveillance programmes is also weak.

This was disclosed by the State’s Health services Director Dr Th Suresh himself while speaking at an HIV/AIDS awareness seminar here at Manipur Press Club recently.

Dr Suresh, was attending the seminar on ‘Role of media intervention in preventing HIV/AIDS and promoting awareness’ held under the aegis of the American Center, Kolkata in collaboration with the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union and Manipur State AIDS Control Society. He said “we’re not able to give enough to the needy persons”.

The move to monitor the process of providing services to the needy people is also weak. For this we need more deliberations and discussions to have a community-based surveillance data for the region in combating the dreaded disease, the officer felt.

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