Tamil Nadu   

“HIV positive people can have access to State schemes”

MADURAI: Getting access to medical treatment and benefits of various Government schemes remained the biggest challenge for the HIV positive people, who also suffered discrimination and isolation in their own place of living, said S. Anbalagan, president of Madurai District HIV Positive People Welfare Society.

He was addressing the ‘promoting access campaign’ organised here on Saturday as part of its nation-wide campaign by the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+).

Mr. Anbalagan said that the campaign was not only aimed at creating awareness among HIV positive people of services available in government departments, treatment options, re-infection and reproductive healthcare issues, but also to motivate vulnerable groups to come forward to know their HIV status.

Instead of living in an illusionary world, by knowing their HIV status, people would extend a helping hand in stopping the spread of the virus by opting for safe sex practices, he said.

The INP+ had organised the campaign in 102 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland. The campaign would end in Lucknow on August 31, he said.

The district-level networks of HIV positive people were being induced to work in close collaboration with the local administration in disseminating all possible information about the infection, he said.

Quoting a speech of the Project Director, Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society, Supriya Sahu, Mr. Anbalagan said that in the last six months the number of people on ART in the State had increased from 7,000 to 20,000 and the number of children on ART from 400 to 1,100. As many as 40,000 people had registered for pre-ART services. In Tamil Nadu, there are 19 ART centres and 730 integrated counselling and testing centres.

He said that the Madurai network had established a Positive Living Centre where three doctors would make a weekly visit to treat men, women and children exclusively.

The network that began as a group of seven people in 2004 has 1,300 members providing continuous service to 1,800 people.

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