Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Itanagar, June 21 2010:
As a move to thwart the spread of HIV/AIDS in Arunachal Pradesh, chief minister Dorjee Khandu on Monday called for voluntary disclosure of HIV positive infection by the infected persons.
Dorjee Khandu promised that all possible assistance would be provided if those infected by the disease make voluntary disclosure of the infection.
"If someone is infected with a dreaded disease, the most virtuous thing would to be to stop that disease from spreading further," Khandu said.
The Arunachal Pradesh chief minister urged the Arunachal Pradesh State Council on AIDS to make HIV/AIDS an agenda for discussion in every meeting.
Quoting official records, Khandu said as many as 158 cases of HIV positive had been detected in the state till March this year.
"Many more are believed to have been infected with the disease but owing to various reasons they are not voluntarily coming forward for the test," Dorjee Khandu said.
The chief minister believed that the only means to curb the disease could be through creating adequate awareness among people.
He appealed to the government officers, panchayat leaders and also the media to "initiate the cause religiously so that we could make the state a living heaven and give our future generation a conducive and disease-free society".
The Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, in this connection, called upon the elected representatives in the state to initiate suitable measures to sensitize the locals in their jurisdiction.
Since the young children are very vulnerable to such diseases owing to their lack of knowledge about the disease, Khandu called for making HIV/AIDS a subject in the school syllabus.
It may be mentioned that Nagaland and Manipur are two other states in the North-East that have been badly hit by HIV/AIDS.