Alliance formed in Assam to fight HIV/AIDS

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Alliance formed in Assam to fight HIV/AIDS

From correspondents in Assam, India, 04:00 PM IST

At least 29 different civil society groups, including people living

with HIV, have formed an alliance in Assam to jointly fight HIV/AIDS

that has assumed epidemic proportions in the region.

'The need for a common platform of civil society groups, NGOs, media,

trade unions, and people living with HIV, is to address various

issues from removing stigma to accessing care and treatment, besides

allowing people with HIV/AIDS to live a life with dignity,' Jahnabi

Goswami, president of the Assam Network of Positive People (ANPP),

told reporters here.

Goswami, 30, is one of the few women in India fighting to raise

awareness about the disease and one of an even smaller number to have

publicly declared in 1999 that she is HIV-positive.

The 'Assam People's Alliance to Combat HIV and AIDS' was formed a

fortnight ago with several anti-AIDS campaigners, the church, women

rights bodies and the government part of the conglomeration.

India accounts for about 5.7 million HIV-positive people, surpassing

South Africa.

India's northeast has been declared as one of the country's high-risk

zones with close to 100,000 people infected with HIV. There are some

1,780 HIV-positive people in Assam although unofficial estimates put

the number at close to 30,000.

'The number of AIDS cases in Assam has swollen from 372 to 578

between October 2006 and February this year. This is an alarming

rise,' S.I. Ahmed, head of the AIDS Prevention Society, one of the

alliance partners, said.

The Alliance would help formulate strategies and policies for people

living HIV/AIDS, besides launching an awareness drive as

stigmatisation of the disease and the society's denial are major

hindrances in controlling the epidemic.

'Stigma and discrimination are indeed problem areas in tackling

HIV/AIDS. There is acceptance of the problem at the highest level,

although lots need to be done to make it (the disease) acceptable in

the society which is still in a denial mode,' Goswami said.

As part of the awareness drive, the Alliance is organising the Global

AIDS Week of Action from May 20 to 26 in Assam beginning with the

24th International Candlelight Memorial march in the state in memory

of those who died of AIDS.

'Several programmes were being organised from workshops to advocacy

programmes, including a session with lawmakers from the state,' Ahmed

said.

Only 19 percent of Asians who need AIDS drugs receive them, a World

Health Organisation (WHO) report released last month said.

The WHO report is backed by the United Nations' anti-AIDS agency

(UNAIDS) and UNICEF. India has only around 100,000 people on

treatment.

'This is far short of the total need,' the report said.

http://www.indiaenews.com/health/20070507/50584.htm