Tamil Nadu   

Workshop for debate on AIDS

Staff Reporter

VELLORE: Organising a debate on creating awareness on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), advocating among leaders the need to include AIDS prevention and awareness in their political agenda, organising programmes, publication of human interest stories and a continuous campaign are among the topics to be discussed at a workshop on AIDS Awareness for Mediapersons, organised by the Field Publicity Office and the office of the Deputy Director of Health Services here on Saturday.

The Collector, S. Gopalakrishnan, inaugurating the workshop said condoms were sold through fair price shops only to make them available to the people in rural areas. The parent to child transmission of HIV could be prevented by encouraging medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) among the unwed pregnant girls who conceived through illicit contact under varying circumstances. They should be asked to get the MTP done in the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital (GVMCH), Adukkamparai and all taluk hospitals, where it was done free of cost and confidentially.

M. Shanmugam, Joint Director of Medical Services, said the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission Centres (PPTCs) and the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres (VCTCs) were combined into Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTCs) in the GVMCH and all taluk hospitals in the district. The general public is charged Rs. 10 per test, while it is done free of cost to antenatal mothers.

Dr. Shanmugam said while the GVMCH and the Government hospitals at Tirupattur, Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Gudiyatham and Arakkonam had blood banks, the blood bank at the GVMCH alone was authorised to sell blood to other hospitals in need of it at Rs. 550 a unit.T. Sivakumar, Field Publicity Officer, said the media had a lead role to play in eliminating myths and misconceptions about AIDS among the youth. Purushotham Vijayakumar, Deputy Director of Medical and Rural Health Services and A. Somasundaram, Deputy Director of Health Services, Vellore, participated.

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