AIDS In Kashmir: Statistics Could be Deceptive

[Guest guest]

AIDS Scourge In Kashmir: Statistics Could be Deceptive

Even as the government is at pains to exude a sense of satisfaction

over 90 per cent of the state population being fully aware about the

causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS, Jammu and Kashmir might well be

face to face with the ominous portents of the killer disease for more

than one reason.

The number of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) has shot up by

exactly 100, from 831 in 2005 to 931 in 2006, while the disease is

already believed to have claimed 37 lives in the state.

Dismissing the reports that Jammu and Kashmir was one of the hot

zones in the country, the state's AIDS Prevention and Control Society

cites some figures to paint a comparatively rosy picture vis-à-vis

the northeastern and southern states where the infection is

understood to have assumed disquieting proportions. Project director

of the Society, Dr M A Wani, claims, " In sentinel survey in Jammu and

Kashmir for the year ending December 2004, the percentage stood at

0.95 among high risk groups and 0.06 among antenatal women. However,

it dropped to zero in both the categories for the year ending

December 2005. "

On the veracity of sentinel surveillance, the mandatory nationwide

feature, he said the survey had been institutionalized to monitor the

trends of HIV infection in specific high-risk and low-risk groups.

Should the optimism be genuine, the hullabaloo about the spread of

the dreaded virus must be absolutely misplaced. There has been a

tendency with various government agencies to distort and suppress

truth with a view to misleading the public opinion.

At a seminar organized by department of Social and Preventive

Medicine of Government Medical College here in connection with world

AIDS day on December 1 last, the programme coordinator, Dr Saleem

Khan, stunned the audience by claiming " We have a projected estimate

of 30,000 people infected with HIV in the state, while 800 people

have been confirmed HIV positive during tests conducted. "

Across the world, around five crores people are HIV infected and

after every one minute, 14 persons are infected with, while seven

persons die due to, the disease. The number of those infected with

HIV in India reads a staggering 50 lakh.

Obviously, it would be hazardous to shy away from the harsh realities

that stare into our face. That in spite of some infrastructure having

been put in place at some of the premier healthcare facilities,

including the SK Institute of Medical Sciences and the two Medical

Colleges, the government has fallen back on the Imams of Masjids to

join the crusade by way of generating an awareness among the masses

through their Friday sermons, should be sufficient to blast its

claims of the percentage of AIDS infected cases dropping to zero

level for the year ending December 2005.

In fact, a few orientation camps are believed to have been organized

about various preventive measures. The GMC and J & K State AIDS Control

Society had recently organized a seminar on " Role of Islamic

Religious Scholars in Prevention of HIV/AIDS, " in collaboration with

the Jami'at-i-Ahli Hadees, which was attended by 850 Imams (500 from

Jammu and 350 from Kashmir).

On its part also, AIDS Prevention and Control Society has launched an

awareness campaign to involve people in the combat effort. However,

all these efforts are still to create a visible impact on societal

responses to the scourge. The awareness level among the general

public remains very low because of the typically bureaucratic

approach being followed by the state government.

It has been alleged that much of the money claimed to have been spent

on educating people had been " siphoned off wastefully. " The state

government is oblivious to various factors that have a direct bearing

on HIV/AIDS prevention and control. Even as the influence of religion

in the conservative Kashmiri society is fairly profound, there can be

no denying that the heavy, albeit uninhibited, influx of workmen and

transport operators from Indian states like Orissa, Bihar, Uttar

Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, has been a cause of concern for the

health authorities in Jammu and Kashmir. A sizeable number of them

are believed to be carrying the infection.

Reports of some security personnel serving as conduits of the killer

virus have also been doing the rounds. In a period of 11 months

ending November, more than a dozen paramilitary personnel deployed in

the state were found afflicted with HIV/AIDS. Possibility of some

tourists - foreign as well as domestic - and travel traders also

carrying the infection cannot be ruled out. With the collapse of

value system and the loosening of family control, the younger

generation is distinctively wayward because of which promiscuity has

been on the increase.

In any case, there is an urgent need to launch a mass movement with

the involvement of government agencies and civil society besides the

common people against the spread of the disease. At the same time,

the surveillance mechanism needs to be put in place immediately to

prevent the entry of potential carriers of the virus into the state.

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