PHOTO: PTI

WAR AGAINST AIDS: Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, at the launch of "Goonj" in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

CHANDIGARH: The Union Government and the Haryana and Punjab governments besides the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Tuesday lent political will to the movement against AIDS by launching a nation-wide campaign from the Leisure Valley in Sector 10 here.

A siren was also sounded at 4 p.m. to alert the people against the incurable disease. School children, volunteers and concerned citizens also blew horns and rang bells in keeping with the name of the mass mobilisation programme: Goonj. Speaking on the occasion, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Anbumoni Ramadoss, described HIV/AIDS as a potential threat to the Indian economy which could only be tackled by the "social vaccine'' of increased awareness.

Dr. Ramadoss said AIDS was no longer a sexually transmitted disease but a monster and if it was not challenged soon, it had the power to reverse the socio-economic gains made by the country since Independence. "The `Goonj' made in Chandigarh should travel to not just the northern States but the entire country and unify people to fight the menace jointly.'' The Minister further said that the leap the Indian economy was poised to make stood seriously threatened as HIV/AIDS could reduce the productive work force, increase social and medical costs in a way that would force diversion of budgets allocated for developmental programmes.

Challenging task

"Fighting AIDS is an extremely challenging task, which requires untiring efforts by the Government and the society at large and in particular the youth,'' he added. On the various initiatives being taken to generate public awareness, Dr. Ramadoss said that a unique mass mobilisation campaign called `Red Ribbon Express' designed to traverse the length and breadth of the country would cover 180 stations and 40,000 panchayats.

It was expected to create over 1,00,000 trained youth volunteers to campaign against HIV/AIDS. He noted that the AIDS epidemic, which was unevenly distributed across the nation, may also affect Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh which have low prevalence rateThe Minister said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had motivated both the Centre and the State Governments to launch special health programmes to bring awareness about AIDS throughout the country, especially in rural areas. He cautioned people to adopt adequate measures to control AIDS, lest India become another South Africa where 23 per cent of the population was suffering from AIDS.

Dr. Mannohan Singh had constituted the National AIDS Council, which was the first of its own kind in the world, he added. The Haryana Governor, A.R. Kidwai, appreciated Dr. Ramadoss's efforts in launching the nation-wide campaign. The Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said that the first case of AIDS in India was detected in 1986. Nearly 30 lakh people die of AIDS every year in the world and in India, 51 lakh people were suffering from this disease.

While administering the oath to the audience on this occasion to be aware, to spread awareness and to be sympathetic towsards the AIDS affected people, he said his Government was taking effective steps to control the spread of this dreaded disease.

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