Manipur ranks 2nd among high HIV/AIDS prevalent states
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, November 30 2013 :
Manipur has been placed at the second spot among Indian states with high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.
Around 500 HIV/AIDS cases are detected every three months in the State.
However, the State lacks the much required Drug Resistance Testing Machine.
Talking to Hueiyen Lanpao, an official of Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) said that Manipur ranks second in terms of high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in India.
Moreover, all nine districts of the State are under Category-A of HIV/AIDS prevalence.
Around 500 cases are detected every three months resulting to about 2000 cases annually in the State.
There are six Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) in Bishnupur, four in Chandel, 10 in Churachandpur, 13 in Imphal East, 15 in Imphal West, seven in Senapati, 10 in Thoubal and eight in Ukhrul district.
In 2012-13, the major route of HIV transmission in the State is heterosexual intercourse.
Notably, HIV transmission among homosexuals, people sharing needles and from mother to child has come down drastically in the State, the official noted.
According to records collected from the ICTCs across the State as on September this year, a total of 43,882 HIV/AIDS positive cases have been detected which include 24,711 males, 12,411 females and 2919 children.
On the other hand, President of MNP+ Deepak lamented the lack of Drug Resistance Testing Machine in the State despite being the second among states with high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.
It is very much essential for people living with HIV/AIDS to undergo the drug resistance test.
However, the absence of such machine has made treatment even more difficult.
PLHIVs have to bear the trouble of undergoing drug resistance test in other state in order to ascertain the type of Anti-retroviral Treatment (ART) whether first line or second line, he stated.
Deepak further highlighted that the Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), after getting infected with HIV, are susceptible to Hepatitis-C as a co-infection.
The treatment for Hepatitis-C is very costly, often more than Rs.8 lakhs.
The high cost of treatment is a disheartening factor for those people injected with Hepatitis-C, he added.