Karnataka - Belgaum   

`Prevalence of HIV/AIDS high among adolescents'

Vijaykumar Patil

`It has crossed national average of one per cent HIV/AIDS prevalence rate'

Belgaum: Karnataka is among the five States that have crossed the national average of one per cent HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among those in the age group of 10 to 19.

The other four States on the list are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, where the dreaded disease is spreading faster than in other States in the country.

Revealing this to The Hindu here on Sunday, T.S. Panigrahy, Director, Community Service of Berhampur, Jana Bikash Parishad (JBP), said the HIV prevalence rate was apparently high in these States mainly owing to lack of awareness among both rural and urban adolescents.

Of the one-fourth of the country's population that formed the adolescent population, about 4 per cent (5.7 million) had been found to be HIV-infected. And the disease was spreading more among women and children in rural areas. Almost fifty per cent of the HIV- infected adolescents were rural women and children, he said.

About 10 to 35 per cent of migrant labourers and 30 to 40 per cent of dropouts had been found infected by the dreaded disease, Mr. Panigrahy said. He is here on a mission to assess the awareness level among adolescents in different parts of the country.

He has been visiting schools and colleges with questionnaires and interacting with social groups engaged in fight against HIV/AIDS. It was the responsibility of each member of society to make common cause with the national effort to prevent spread of HIV/AIDS, he added.

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