Gearing up to meet the AIDS threat in Chandigarh

[Guest guest]

Gearing up to meet the AIDS threat

Tribune News Service. Chandigarh, November 2

More than 20,304 cases of AIDS have already been reported to the National AIDS

Control Organisation till March 2001’’according to Prof H.M. Swami, Head,

Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital Sector

32.

Dr Swami was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day training programme on

HIV/AIDS, which started at the GMCH here today. More than 30 junior doctors are

participating in this workshop organised by the GMCH in collaboration with the

State AIDS Control Society.

Inaugurating the programme, the Director Principal GMCH, Dr S.B.S. Mann stressed

the need to create awareness about AIDS and prepare healthcare workers to

protect themselves against the HIV epidemic and equip hospitals against the

dreaded disease.

Dr Swami, who is the nodal officer of the training programme informed that a

series of such trainings would be conducted for junior doctors and paramedical

staff of GMCH. He also stressed on imparting sex education in schools and

discussed the social consequences of an AIDS epidemic.

Dr Varsha Gupta from the Department and Microbiology, GMCH, highlighted the

laboratory tests and HIV testing strategies available at the hospital. Dr Atul

Sachdeva, Head of the Medicine Department, explained about diagnosing AIDS cases

and the action to be taken by doctors and paramedical staff following exposure

to AIDS.

Dr Surjit Singh, Additional Professor of Pediatrics, PGI discussed AIDS

treatment and informed that Tuberculosis was making a comeback and rising as a

result of HIV infections. Dr Bhushan Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of

Dermatology, PGI, mentioned that prevalence of HIV infection is almost 8 to 10

times greater in patients in which it has been sexually transmitted. Its

management based upon symptoms called ‘‘syndromic approach’’ should be adopted

in fact to treat all types of STDs at peripheral health institutions.

Dr A.S. Bawa, Professor and Head, Department of Surgery, GMCH, stressed upon the

need to follow simple universal precautions to protect medical and paramedical

staff.

Dr Vikas Bhatia, Coordinator of the training programme, informed that by

training all medical and paramedical staff of GMCH, they would be able to take

adequate precautions and handle the HIV/AIDS patients without fear.

Dr N.M. Sharma, Dr J.S. Thakur, Dr Vikas Bhatia and Dr Benani Poddar will

deliver lectures as part of the programme tomorrow.

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2-day training programme on HIV ends

Tribune News Service: Chandigarh, November 3

The two-day training programme on HIV/AIDS organised by the

Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, in collaboration

with the State AIDS Control Society ended here today. Dr N.M. Sharma,

Project Director of the State AIDS Control Society, UT, informed

about the working of the society. He talked about the achievements of

the project in its first phase and the components of the ongoing

second phase which entailed training and intervention projects among

the high risk groups.

Dr Vikas Bhatia of the Department of Community Medicine, GMCH

informed the participants about the ongoing HIV surveillance which

aimed at learning more about the trends of the disease. He informed

that this was being carried out in the country in two groups. Dr

Benani also of the department spoke on paediatric HIV infection, its

spread from mother to child and methods of control.

Dr J.S. Thakur talked about the importance of counselling in HIV-

infected patients. He stressed the need for promoting safe sex and

use of condoms among the public.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/20011104/cth3.htm#1

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