411 AIDS patients have been identified in Himachal Pradesh

[Guest guest]

Seventy-one deaths due to AIDS till date: CM

SHIMLA: As many as 411 AIDS patients have been identified in Himachal

Pradesh till date, 71 of whom have died, Chief Minister Virbhadra

Singh told the assembly on Wednesday.

Hamirpur district has the highest number of reported AIDS cases at

101, followed by Mandi (81), Shimla (64) and Kangra (56).

The maximum AIDS-related deaths have been reported from Kangra (38),

followed by Hamirpur (18) and Shimla (8), he said in response to a

question from Chandresh Kumari of Congress.

Singh said the government has launched a multi-pronged awareness

campaign to check the further spread of the disease, which includes

inter-personal group meetings, street theatres, workshops and

publicity through the mass media.

" Red ribbon clubs " have been established in colleges to provide

correct information to students. AIDS education programmes for

students of Class IX and XI are being implemented in schools

throughout the state, he said.

Free drugs are being provided to AIDS patients at anti-retroviral

treatment centre at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Singh added.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEP20070314150642