Need to identify HIV patients in India

CHANDIGARH: India has nearly 2.1 million HIV positive patients in the country and many are not even aware of their status, a senior Union Health Ministry officer said.

The additional secretary of health and director general of the National Aids Control Organisation (Naco), Navreet Singh Kang, said that there was an immediate need to identify the HIV positive patients and start their treatment.

“There are nearly 21 lakh (2.1 million) HIV positive patients in the country and about seven lakh of them are not even aware of their HIV positive status,” Kang said.

He said that the treatment and care for those living with HIV/Aids inside prisons should be equivalent to the treatment and care available for the general population.

Kang said that the National Prison HIV Strategy was being implemented in a phased manner in the country.

“Earlier in Phase 1, the HIV Interventions in Prison Settings project was launched in February this year in eight north-eastern states and is now being launched in Punjab and Chandigarh prisons. A key aspect of the programme is to ensure post release referrals and linkages for various HIV prevention and treatment services,” he said. Punjab’s principal secretary of health, Vini Mahajan, said that the state’s health department was committed to support the prisons department to provide adequate medical care to jail inmates.

Mahajan said that the programme had been launched by Naco for eight central jails in Punjab.

Principal secretary for prisons, Sanjay Kumar, said that more than half of the inmates in the prisons were under trial prisoners, and they were expected to return to the community.

“Hence, initiating HIV interventions in prisons will help to halt and reverse the HIV trend in the state,” he said. – IANS