World AIDS Day : Not a mere ceremony
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 01, 2014 -

HIV and AIDS are old and most familiar acronyms in Manipur.

Since the very onslaught of this epidemic in Manipur two decades back, a number of young people have been dragged to their graves, numerous young women have become widows, many more number of children have turned orphans for no fault of theirs.

Factors are: lack of awareness, inability to behave positively, carelessness and lack of health seeking behaviour.

In spite of tremendous strides made in medical science the world over, there has been no effective vaccine against HIV and no standard medicine for complete cure of AIDS.

The only available mantras for HIV prevention is awareness and positive behavior, while the only option for longevity of life among people with HIV is medical and psychological support.

The pace of the epidemic has never retarded, in spite of claims of reduction in HIV prevalence rates which come out of the so called ‘surveillance’ done by people working in the field.

Manipur easily fell victim of HIV and AIDS epidemic during the late 80s and early 90s due to widespread intravenous drug use among the youths of the state.

It was simply because of the fact that the state is the alternative routes of drug trade between the infamous Golden Triangle and the rest of the world.

As of now, the intravenous drug use has almost been controlled in Manipur, mostly because of the Rapid Intervention and Care (RIAC) project undertaken by the Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) in collaboration with various NGOs.

Although the other routes of HIV transmission have also been checked through intervention projects among the commercial sex workers, migrant workers, truckers, and so called Men having sex with men (MSM), the state is far behind controlling HIV transmission among the adolescent young people of Manipur.

This has been reported from various circles that HIV and AIDS awareness coupled with skills for behavior change are not adequately taught to the huge population of newly adolescent young boys and girls. That means HIV prevention messages do not reach the ears and eyes of the adolescents through educational curricula and other forms of media.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Manipur state was prominently known for being the pioneer in fighting HIV/AIDS in the whole of south east Asia, particularly India.

For the first time in the country, Manipur adopted the State AIDS Policy on 3rd October, 1996.The Targeted Intervention for Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) also known as RIAC project was launched on 7th November, 1998 involving a large number of NGOs, which led to the decline of HIV prevalence among (IDUs) from 80.7% in 1997 to 12.4% in 2011 .

Manipur was also the first state to conduct the Legislators' Conference on HIV/AIDS and to organise the first Media Strategy Conference on HIV/AIDS as early as 1995.

For the first time in India, the District AIDS Committee on HIV/AIDS was constituted in Thoubal District with the then Deputy Commissioner Mr. Suresh Babu as its Chairman.

Contrary to expectations and needs of the growing number of AIDS patients in Manipur, the erstwhile Legislators' Forum on AIDS has not been heard of accomplishing anything worth, and the Manipur State AIDS Policy has not been revised yet.

Now the HIV/AIDS control programme in Manipur has almost failed to check the growing number of possible infections among the adolescent youths whose behavior are mostly influenced by the undesirable new media portrayals and the technologies like internet and cell-phones.

Frequent change of the administrative head of MACS and entrusting works of numerous departments to the project Director are mainly responsible for the apparent inactiveness of HIV/AIDS programme in Manipur.

Even the Governing body of MACS headed by the state Chief Minister does not meet at regular intervals as provided in the Rules and Regulations of Manipur State AIDS Control Society.

In reality, HIV/AIDS control programme in Manipur has failed to address the needs of HIV infected people as well as vulnerable youths across the state. Mere observance of WAD on December 1 along with speeches by high profile dignitaries is not the true essence of commemorating this meaningful Day.

Issues concerning the young vulnerable population and affected people must be addressed effectively in connection with this observance. World AIDS Day is not a mere ceremony.