TN has 42 PC of India's HIV cases

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TN has 42 PC of India's HIV cases:Expert

Chennai, April: Though Tamil Nadu accounts for 42 per cent of the

total HIV positive cases in India, this alarming statistic did not

mean the state had the highest prevalence of HIV positive people, Dr

P Krishnamurthy, Project Director of AIDS Prevention and Control

Project (APAC), said today.

It rather indicated that surveillance on the part of the health

department was very extensive and those inflicted with the disease

were encouraged to come out in the open about their ailment, he told

reporters here.

The stigma about the disease was on a steady decline in the state

and HIV positives were forming good support and care groups among

themselves, he said.

Sheila Rani Chunkath, state Health Secretary, said that the state

had been propagating Caesaraen deliveries among HIV positive

pregnant women to prevent the transfer of the disease to the child.

Speaking on the occasion, noted Agriculture scientist Dr M S

Swaminathan, said the three-day 5th Pugwash Conference on HIV/AIDS

would begin here from April 7.

(Pugwash is named after the village in Nova Scotia in Canada, where

the first conference for " peril free " world was held in 1957).

Indian Council for Medical Research Deputy Director Dr Rajeshwari

said that the incidence of TB in HIV patients could go up to

alarming proportions in the next 10 years. Hence, people with HIV

should approach Voluntary Testing and Counselling Centres were urged

to visit TB centres and vice versa, she said. (Our Correspondent)

Published: Tuesday, April 04, 2006

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