US Army to deploy counsellors to train Indian armed forces personnel

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Defence forces load anti-AIDS ammo

A STAFF REPORTER

Guwahati, Sept. 24: Not only do they have to battle it out with internal foes of

the state in the form of insurgents, the defence forces are now having to fight

a dreaded enemy within, particularly in the Northeast: AIDS and the HIV

pandemic.

" HIV/AIDS is prevalent in the Northeast and personnel of the armed

forces living far away from their families are at great risk of exposure to this

dreaded disease, " said Air Marshal P.K. Barbora, Air Officer Commanding

in-charge of Eastern Air Command.

Air Marshal Barbora was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day

HIV/AIDS peer educators' training workshop at the 5 Air Force

Hospital at Jorhat. " AIDS is a social enemy which has not even

spared the defence forces. We are gearing up to fight it, " he said.

The workshop, sponsored by the Centre of Excellence, United States

Pacific Command (PACOM), will deploy experienced counsellors to train

armed forces personnel, schoolteachers and members of the Air Force

Wives Welfare Association to generate awareness regarding the disease

among the defence personnel in the region.

The workshop is the fourth of its kind in the country and the first in

the region.

PACOM's activities in India aim to contribute to the human resources

of the defence services to effectively deal with the disease.

More than 150 delegates from all the three armed forces are

participating in the workshop, held under the aegis of the directorate-general

of the armed forces medical services.

Around 450 new HIV cases are registered in the defence forces every

year. Since 1990, over 4,080 HIV cases have been recorded in the forces.

However, only 10 cases have been detected in the Eastern Air Command

during this period. Nagaland and Manipur have been rated as

" high-prevalence " states.

The fact that this workshop is being held in the region is significant

since reports have been received that militant outfits in the Northeast are

planning to use AIDS as a weapon against the security forces.

Militant organisations have threatened that they would let loose

HIV-infected women to spread the disease among jawans posted in the

Northeast.

A senior army official attending the workshop said jawans deputed to the

far-flung areas of the region are particularly vulnerable to HIV.

" Awareness campaigns would sensitise defence personnel about the

threat and then they will be careful, " he said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070925/asp/northeast/story_8355509.asp