Health Ministry plans vigorous programme to prevent HIV/AIDS

Lakmini Rodrigo

COLOMBO: The Health and Nutrition Ministry is planning to carry out a vigorous programme to prevent Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) among public servants, housewives and other target groups, Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told the Daily News yesterday.

Observing that the grass roots level awareness campaigns that have been carried out by the National HIV/STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) Control Programme under the Health Ministry had shown good results, the Minister said it was time to initiate a new project in larger scale.

The Minister said the awareness programmes should focus on people of various classes and levels, and that the new programme would mainly address the high class society, public servants and the estate management.

Recent surveys have shown that housewives were a high risk group in getting HIV, and that the number of housewives getting the disease from their husbands have greatly increased in the recent past in the Asia Pacific region including Sri Lanka.

Pointing out that the National HIV/STD Control Programme reports show that nearly three HIV positive cases were reported each day in Sri Lanka, Minister de Silva added that though the numbers were still under control, the country was at a great need of prevention methods and awareness programmes to prevent the disease reaching epidemic level.

Minister de Silva said: the new programme would start on June 10 in the Badulla District at 9.00 a.m. at the Uva Provincial Council Library Auditorium, focusing the administrative officers in the area.

The programme is expected to cover all districts of the country. It would enlighten the public on HIV transmission and prevention methods, reducing stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV and healthy behaviuoral patterns. The National HIV/STD Control Programme statistics show that the adult prevalence rate of HIV in Sri Lanka is 0.1 per cent and the total number of HIV positive cases reported by the first quarter of the year was 771.

The number of patients coming out for treatment instead of hiding in denial has increased recently, which is partly attributed to the efficient treatment programmes carried out by the Ministry.