Consultation prog held on HIV community testing
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 19 2014: A regional level community consultation programme of the Northeastern States on the Community Testing and World Health Organisation 2013 Guidelines on HIV/Hepatitis was held today at Classic Hotel.

The consultation programme was jointly organised by the Manipur Network of Positive People, National Coalition of PLHIV in India and Manipur State AIDS Control Society under the sponsorship of the Asian-Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

MSACS Project Director Dr SK Chaurasia and National Coalition of PLHIV in India general secretary Manoj Pardeshi attended the inaugural function as presidium members.

Addressing the gathering, Manipur Network of Positive People president L Deepak highlighted the importance of HIV test and early ARV treatment for checking the menace of HIV.

According to the WHO, PLHIV should go for ARV treatment if their CD4 count is 500 or below.

Early diagnosis and treatment for all suspected cases of HIV infection is a guideline of the WHO.

The best method to persuade people who have not yet undergone HIV test to volunteer for the same test is community testing.

It was in view of this objective that the consultation programme was being organised by community based organisations, MSMs and FSWs.

The programme would discuss about the degree of compliance with the WHO 2013 guidelines on HIV/HCV in the Northeastern region, Deepak said.

MSACS Project Director Dr SK Chaurasia observed that the number of HIV positive people enrolled for ART is around 22,000 whereas the total number of HIV positive people in the State is around 43,000/44,000 .

Manoj Pardeshi remarked that the level of HIV test is still very low in the country even though HIV test as well as ARV treatment are done free of cost.

This is a clear indication that stigma and discrimination are still closely attached to HIV and related topics.

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