Call for collective fight against AIDS

IMPHAL: On the occasion of World Aids Day on Sunday, experts, legislators and social activists urged the people of the state to join hands and fight the spread of HIV and AIDS in Manipur.

A large number of NGOs, civil bodies and government agencies observed the day and organized events and programmes with the theme 'Getting to Zero: Zero New Infection, Zero related death, Zero discrimination' across the state.

Manipur is one of the six states with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country. According to the latest report prepared by the Manipur State Aids Control Society (MACS), the state has 43,707 HIV positive people, including 12,335 women and 2,910 children.

The state function, organized by MACS, was held in the auditorium of the Manipur Film Development Corporation (MFDC) at the palace ground here.

Manipur legislative assembly speaker Th Lokeshwar Singh, while pointing out that the government alone could not tackle the scourge of the epidemic, urged people to put up a collective fight against the menace.

Lokeshwar, who is also the chairman of the Manipur Legislators' Forum on AIDS, also spelt out the efforts extended by the forum in combating the epidemic.

Many NGO leaders at different places stressed on the need for a collective effort to combat the spread of the epidemic, saying that it has become a social issue.

Stating that Manipur is the only state to have a separate AIDS policy, which was adopted as early as 1996, a social activist urged the government to fully implement the policy in all spheres.

The need of the hour, he said, is to caution people of the impending dangers of the epidemic and also to boost services for prevention, care and treatment of the disease, in addition to holding more effective awareness and motivation campaigns.

At the MFDC complex, various household and handloom items produced by self-help groups mostly set up by AIDS-infected and affected widows were sold at over 10 stalls.