Odisha, Bhubaneswar, 01/12/2020: For the first time in the country, the state of Odisha in collaboration with the National Health Mission has developed HIV tests for HIV and similis in a blood sample of pregnant women. V. Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr. Navkishore Das inaugurated the syphilis dual test kit. Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr. Navkishore Das inaugurated the state-level program organized by Osaka on the occasion of World AIDS Day today.
Minister Das joined the Oaxaca half-yearly newspaper as the chief guest at the event. “By 2010, 600,000 people were tested, while in 2019, it has reached 1.4 million,” Das said. Awareness and prevention measures and behavioral changes among high-risk groups have increased the risk of HIV infection. The trend has fallen from 0.31 percent in 2010 to 0.14 percent in 2019. There are 232 integrated counseling and blood testing centers in the state where free counseling and blood testing facilities are provided. In addition, there are 375 Community Health Centers and 459 Primary Health Centers to provide services to the public. All types of HIV related services are being provided to migrant workers through 4 targeted projects, 4 link action plans, and 11 transit projects. Shri Pradip Kumar Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department presided over the function and said that the current HIV prevalence in Odisha is 0.17 percent, which is lower than the national average of 0.22 percent.
The state has 531 new public health centers and 630 health centers free of charge. Testing facilities are being provided. He said that a test kit would help in the diagnosis of HIV and pregnant women in pregnant women. “Pregnant women are being tested on all rural and urban sanitation and health nutrition days,” she said. This year, 3,11,295 pregnant women were tested and 228 were diagnosed with HIV. With the help of the Red Cross Society, 640 Red Ribbon Clubs have been established in various colleges across the state to raise awareness about the need to play a positive role in the healthcare sector.
The district-level Red Ribbon Club praised the role of coordinators. He encouraged the common people as well to solve this great task: “One of the things you and others can do is to keep the pressure on … there are going to be some difficult decisions for the government”. Project Director of Oaxaca, Drs. Mr. Sahu gave a welcome speech at the program and threw light on the objectives and objectives of the program. This year World AIDS Day is the theme of the World Health and Family Welfare Program through Oaxaca, achieving the goal of sustainable development by eradicating the AIDS virus by 2030 with “world unity, participatory responsibility” and the implementation of this responsibility.
The Director of the Mission, Mrs. Shalini Pandit, was the guest, while Special Secretary (MS) of the Health Department, Dr. Ajit Mohanty joined. Guests said that even though Odisha was not considered a high-risk state across the country, there was a risk of spreading HIV. In our state infected people, especially the poor. Most of them are migrant workers and their families are victims of infection. He said the infection was brought under control by Oaxaca’s comprehensive awareness program, free health care, and non-discriminatory assistance, and two IC propaganda vans were set up in Osaka. Mohanty and Project Director Drs. An awareness campaign has been launched in various districts of the state since today by Sahu. For the next seven days. And AIDS awareness will work. In today’s meeting, Additional Project Director Dr. Anjana Panda, Financial Advisor, Mrs. Rangita Behera, Purchase Officer Mr. Barendra Nath Baez, and Institution Officer Mr. Shuvendu Patnaik, Joint Director Dr. DS Arvind, and other Oaxaca officials were present.