AIDs is poised to grow into an epidemic in most states of the North-East, if the soaring number of infected persons is any guide. As of now the threat is limited to five states, not the whole of the region. Assam, Manipur and Nagaland account for bulk of the AIDs cases, not necessarily in that order.

Manipur had just a few AIDs cases in early nineties. Today the situation is alarming, to say the least.  From 1033 cases in 2001, the number of victims has touched 1701. According to a report, as many as 272 persons have died of AIDS in the State in recent years.

As for Nagaland, it is also a story of despair. The AIDS graph is on an upward trajectory despite an all out awareness campaign and periodic workshops across the state. In 1996, the state had just four AIDs patients. The number entered double digits when it rose to 10 two years later in 1998. Over the next three years, the number moved up to a staggering 211.

Assam is not this bad but, if the reports in various newspapers and journals are anything to go by, AIDS-patients are increasing – from 10 in 1996 to 22 in 1998 and to 170 in 2001.

Now the big question is how the spread of the dreaded disease can be prevented? Well, it can possibly be put at check provided the focus is on the development of a vaccine, and on the need for preventive education through intense AIDS awareness campaign.

There is a school of thought which is opposed to the idea of a preventive vaccine. It argues that the vaccine will have to be given to every segment of the population, and that if it is expensive, the very purpose of dealing with AIDS will never be served.

Undoubtedly, it is a good reasoning. That apart, how far will it be safe and effective is also a big question. Therefore, the success in the war against AIDS lies in intense campaign about contraception and condoms leading to a safe sex as well as effective methods to promote responsible behaviour that prevents HIV/STD.

Rs 36 cr for AIDS control in North east

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has sanctioned Rs 36.55 crore for the North-Eastern states to fight the dreaded disease. The money is to be spent this fiscal, according to NACO project director Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, on interventions, prevention interventions, low-cost AIDS care, institutional strengthening and inter-sectoral collaboration.

NACO, which supports 94 blood banks in 76 districts, is also financing 58 clinics to treat sexually-transmitted disease (STD); and these will be increased to 76 by March 31, 2004; the idea is to have one STD clinic for one district.

NACO has operationalised 40 voluntary and counselling centres and aims to support one such centre per district. Since 2001, NACO in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is striving to bring about integration and synergy between the prevention programmes for substance abuse and the programme for prevention of HIV/AIDS, she said.

The  first “legislative workshop with the Chief Ministers and Health Ministers of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland on HIV/AIDS” held in Guwahati adopted a ‘Guwahati declaration’, calling for a commitment from the policy planners to continue advocacy and awareness programmes related to HIV/AIDS prevention at the panchayat district and state levels.

Indian Council of Medical Research  (ICMR), National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), organised the  workshop. Experts like Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh (Project director, NACO), Mark Chatway (IAVI India), Lalit Kant (Senior Deputy Director General, ICMR) attended and had a long dialogue with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Health Minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman (Assam), Health Minister Dr Chalton Lien Amo (Manipur) and S. C. Jamir (Nagaland).

Citing the porous international borders providing easy entry to illegal drugs, presence of a large mobile population like truckers, army personnel, presence of a flourishing trafficking of girls and women, and unrest and strife in the North-East as the prime factors behind the rapid spread of HIV in the region, Meenakshi Datta Ghosh said developing region-specific strategies to implement AIDS-prevention programmes and providing sustainable high quality care to AIDS-affected people was crucial to fighting the menace. She said of the estimated 6.1 million people in South and South-East Asia living with HIV/AIDS, nearly 63 per cent live in India.

Assam’s Health Minister Barman said and 70 per cent of the 171 cases reported in Assam belong to outsiders staying in the State. He said the State Government is trying to improve the blood bank at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital.

Manipur Health Minister Dr Amo said in view of the high incidence of AIDS, the Manipur Government was the first in the country to adopt a State AIDS policy in 1996. “Fighting AIDS is the top priority of the Manipur Government and for this a     massive sensitisation drive involving the masses has been launched,” he said.

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