| Policing HIV /AIDS
After Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Manipur occupies the dubious distinction of having the largest number of HIV infected people and AIDS cases in the country. This is not all. Manipur with a small population of some 22 lakhs, give or take a few lakhs, has the highest number of HIV infected people per thousand. And going by records furnished by the Manipur AIDS Control Society (MACS), the number of HIV infected among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics and persons attending Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinics are on the rise. This more than reveals that HIV and AIDS is not confined to any particular group of people, as envisaged earlier, but has spread to the general population. This negates the earlier misconception that HIV and AIDS is prevalent only amongst the Intravenous Drug Users but is rapidly spreading through sexual contacts and from an infected mother to her child.
According to MACS the first cluster of HIV infection was detected in 1990. While this is official record, there is the lingering doubt amongst many that the figures spelt out by MACS and other health institutions may just be the proverbial tip of the icebergs. Many deaths in the neighborhood due to the infection may have gone unnoticed to the authority concerned and many an orphan left behind may be carrying the virus. Given this scenario, Manipur may soon have an entire generation of children who are HIV positive and unless some quick measures to check the spread is taken up on a war footing, the picture is one of gloom and dismay.
Given the gargantuan threat posed by this virus, for which there is as yet no cure, prevention is the safest bet, and it is laudable that the State Government came out with a State AIDS Policy on October 3, 1996. Not overly exhaustive but nevertheless the State AIDS Policy has touched on some of the pressing points which need to be treated with sensitivity. Provisions for providing accurate information and education to the people, voluntary participation of people with HIV/AIDS, safeguard of confidentiality, avoidance of discrimination and stigmatization etc have all been mentioned in the State AIDS Policy, but the question of greater import is how effectively these provisions have been implemented. Without sounding overly negative it may be safe to surmise that the authority concerned may not have much to show in terms of concrete achievement though it may be there on paper.
While disseminating information to the public on the virus is of utmost importance, it may asked how far has MACS succeeded in reaching the nooks and corners of the State. True seminars, symposia etc are a regular feature in the capital city, but has MACS taken any extraordinary initiative to try and reach the interiors of the State? The AIDS Policy is also silent on how to monitor the high risk group. Without infringing on the privacy and rights of the people concerned, some efforts may be made to monitor the behavior and social life of the high risk group and though it may sound blasphemous to the moral police of society, the suggestion of DPP MLA N. Biren to ear mark red light areas may help in monitoring the commercial sex workers. Like it or not sexual contact is one of the chief factors for the spread of the disease and however bitter the truth it has to be accepted if we are to contain the alarming spread of the virus.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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