AIDS scare: Victims seem to be everywhere in Punjab

[Guest guest]

[

The Sikhsangat Network's journalist's lack of understanding about HIV and AIDS

and how to report about HIV related issues is disappointing. Editor AIDS INDIA]

AIDS scare: Victims seem to be everywhere in Punjab

Anandpur Sahib, Punjab: A FAIR is not the place where people go to get

themselves checked for the HIV virus. Those who walked into the AIDS examination

centre at Anandpur Sahib during the Hola Mohalla festivities apparently did so

for a lark.

Imagine the shock of the personnel belonging to the Punjab State AIDS Control

Society manning the camp when they found that out of about 100 persons who

visited them, as many as five were HIV positive. The sense of surprise they felt

must have been overshadowed only by that of the victims themselves.

Among them was a young couple. The husband was a truck driver who probably

introduced the infection to his wife, the mother of a child.

If so many HIV-positive people can be found at just one fair in one day, just

imagine the number of people roaming all over Punjab, blissfully unaware that

they have contracted the dreaded virus! They are not only putting their own life

on the block but also that of many others, including their family members.

Despite tall claims, the fight against the dreaded disease is not quite as

efficient as it ought to be. Most people are still not aware of the gravity of

the situation. Due to the stigma attached to it, even those who should get

themselves tested refuse to do so.

They carry it along the length and breadth of the state 0151 nay, the country.

India is fast becoming the AIDS capital of Asia.

The most vulnerable are truck drivers and drug addicts. Yet, the services of sex

workers along the highways are very much available and the drugs are still

injected through shared needles. Equally worrisome is the increased incidence of

HIV-AIDS in adolescents.

The ostrich-like approach has already played havoc. It is necessary to open more

and more channels where all sections can discuss sexuality-related topics

freely. Equally vital is adequate funding, access to treatment, peer education

and support system.

http://sikhsangat.org/1469/2009/06/aids-scare-victims-seem-to-be-everywhere-in-p\

unjab/