Surge in HIV positive cases in Kerala

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Surge in HIV positive cases in Kerala

IANS [ FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2002 9:15:46 PM ]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The image of Kerala as a state with healthy people

has come under a cloud with a large number of HIV positive cases that

have been steadily increasing.

Health Minister P. Sankaran said that HIV positive cases in Kerala are

on the increase, with Thiruvananthapuram district having the highest

number of cases.

He said: " The number of HIV positive cases in the state is anywhere

between 70,000 and 100,000. The districts of Kozhikode and

Thiruvananthapuram lead because of the large size of the expatriate

population there. Most of those who appear to have contracted the

disease get it from Mumbai. "

The state government has a full-fledged AIDS control office with

branches in most districts where the focus is to run awareness

campaigns with the help of non-governmental agencies.

The project director of the state AIDS Control Society, M.N.

Gunawardhan, said: " We have launched a programme where people have

been categorised into high risk and low risk categories.

" The high risk group consists of truck drivers, plantation workers and

similar categories of people. We conduct regular classes for them and

review the impact. For the low risk group, we run an awareness

campaign with the NGOs. We also conduct classes for school students in

the state " .

Reports indicate that the HIV positive figures in the state could be

highly deflated as it is hard to believe that the number of full-blown

cases of AIDS in Kerala is a mere 819.

" Availability of funds is not a problem. We get aid from the federal

government and other agencies. The real problem is reaching out to the

masses " , said Gunawardhan, who is also joint secretary for health in

the state administration.

The government has also launched a unique AIDS testing centre in the

Government General Hospital here, which conducts an AIDS blood test at

a cost of a mere Rs 10.

" Most people do not come to government hospitals for AIDS detection

tests for fear of getting reported. They go to private laboratories

for secrecy and HIV positive cases disappear after they come to know

that they are positive, " Gunawardhan said.

The government has also taken steps to streamline all the blood banks

in the state and monitoring is being done at frequent intervals by

health authorities to assess the spread of HIV through infected blood.

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