OSACS declares war against AIDS

BHUBANESWAR: To raise greater awareness on HIV-AIDS, the Odisha State AIDS Control Society (OSACS) has started partnering with several state government agencies and Union ministries.
To begin with, the officials have joined hands with commerce and transport department and started targeting toll plazas with an aim to sensitise the truck drivers, who are vulnerable to the disease. The transport department has also committed to put awareness messages on buses and backside of bus tickets.

“We have completed a round of awareness generation activities at different toll plazas in Berhampur earlier this month. Similar activities will be done in other vulnerable districts. The printing of the message on the buses and bus tickets is going on and will be completed in a month,” said OSACS director Sanjay Patnaik.

The OSACS has also inked pact with higher education department for establishments of red ribbon clubs at the colleges, with the home department for awareness on HIV-AIDS among jail inmates, with the department of steel and mines and ministry of coal for sensitisation on the disease among mine workers, among others.

The OSACS has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the ministry of labour and employment for sensitisation on HIV-AIDS and tuberculosis among members of the employer organisations, trade unions and other partner organisations. Similarly, efforts have been made to include people living with the disease in different beneficiary schemes.

“We have got the support of as many as 16 government agencies in our activities so far in different fields. There are already 640 red ribbon clubs in the colleges and we will set up 50 more. Similarly, we have received proposal from nine jails in different parts of the state to conduct our sensitisation activities,” said Patnaik.

According to official data, the state has recorded 46,246 positive cases of HIV-AIDS from 2012 to September 2018 with 1,514 deaths. The vulnerable districts, when it comes to number of HIV positive cases, are Ganjam with 15,034 positive cases followed by Cuttack with 6,264 cases.

The analysis of OSACS on the vulnerability of the diseases over the years further revealed that HIV-AIDS is prevalent among age group of 25 to 49 at 77% followed by the age group of 15 to 24 at 9%. Besides, sexual intercourse is found to be a major route of transmission of the disease at 88% followed by infected syringes at 2%.