Army battles HIV in the Northeast

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Army battles HIV in the Northeast

Deborshi Chaki: CNN-IBN

Posted Sunday , March 05, 2006 at 20:23

BATTLE READY: Army will make the HIV tests mandatory for all

personnel serving in the Northeast.

Guwahati: Soldiers serving in the troubled Northeastern states not

only face the threat of the bullets of terrorists but are also

vulnerable to the HIV virus.

To counter the threat of HIV, the Indian army is now planning to

make the HIV tests mandatory for all personnel serving in the

Northeast.

Vice Admiral and Director General of the Armed Forces Medical

Services (AFMS), VK Singh, said, " If I don't do this recruitment

screening test then HIV positive people may come into our forces.

That's why we want to insulate our forces from the induction of HIV

positive people. "

" We have brought down the percentage of HIV positive people to 0.28

per cent but our aim is to bring it to zero per cent, " Singh says.

Tests of courage in conflict zones is something that most men in

uniform always look forward to but the test for screeing the HIV

positive soldiers is likely to catch most of them off guard.

The proposal to screen the personnel has already been cleared by the

Chief of Staffs Committee and is based on reports that the

Northeastern states are vulnerable to HIV.

It also appears that the army is keen to learn from the experience

of Assam Rifles, which has 133 confirmed HIV cases in its ranks.

The Director General of Assam rifles, Lt General Bhopinder Singh,

says that this is because his force is stationed permanently in the

Northeast

" When you compare the jawan of Assam Rifles with a jawan of the

Army, BSF or CRPF you must remember that our jawans saty here where

the battalion of other forces go back to some other place after some

time. That is he is in high risk category as he is going to serve

througout his career in the Northeast, " Bhopinder Singh says.

" HIV is more wide spread in the Northeast than other parts of the

country which is a well know fact, " he adds.

In an unprecedented move, the Assam Rifles has also made it

mandatory for its personnel to carry condoms while on duty but

ironically the problem lies in the nature of the job that the jawans

undertake.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS Dr Piot says, " HIV does not

need a visa or passport and particularly in the Northeast as it is

surrounded by a country like Myanmar which is very heavily affected

by AIDS, much more than any nplace in India. It is also a major

source of heroin for the drug trade. "

The army's proposal for mandatory HIV tests for service personnel in

the northeast in itself is a silent admission of the fact that cross

border infiltration and drug trafficking contnues and the soldeirs

are equally vulnerable to the problem like anyone else.

(With inputs from Anjali Gupta)

http://www.ibnlive.com/article.php?id=6315 & section_id=3

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Contributed by Lwin Aung Soe <lwinaungsoe@...>