Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Council to monitor AIDS control soon

— Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar

For a cause: Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy pinning a Red Ribbon on Speaker K. Radhakrishnan as part of the observance of World AIDS Day on Monday.

Thiruvananthapuram: A State Council will be formed in accordance with the guidelines of the Union government to coordinate and evaluate HIV prevention and control programmes in the State, Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy has said.

The council is to take all HIV prevention and control programmes and voluntary blood donation awareness activities to the grassroots under the leadership of people’s representatives. The involvement of people’s representatives is expected to give more focus to HIV control programmes.

The Chief Minister will chair the council and other Ministers will be its members. Ms. Sreemathy also said that a sub-centre of Ushus, the antiretroviral therapy centres run by the Kerala AIDS Control Society (KSACS), would be opened at the Palakkad District Hospital. Earlier, the Red Ribbon, the global symbol of the fight against HIV, was pinned on Governor R.S. Gavai by the Health Minister. In the Assembly, the Red Ribbon was pinned on the Speaker K. Radhakrishnan. All MLAs came to the Assembly wearing the Red Ribbon.

Officials of various departments, including the Railways and the Police, also wore the Red Ribbon on Monday to express their resolve to fight AIDS.

Voluntary blood donation programmes and folk art shows conveying the message against AIDS were also organised.

Earlier, the programmes organised by KSACS on the occasion of the World AIDS Day was inaugurated by Ms. Sreemathy. She also inaugurated the Jyothis counselling and testing centres opened in prisons in six districts. The Interventions in Sexual Health programmes were run in prisons through NGOs. Now, the KSACS and the Prisons Department have joined hands to start counselling centres in prisons.

Ms. Sreemathy said that the media had a key role to play in generating awareness on HIV and announced that the State government would institute media awards for coverage on HIV/AIDS.

The service centres and districts which had put up the best performance in the area of HIV control were given awards on the occasion.

Director of Health Services, KSACS Project Director Usha Titus, ADGP (Prisons) K.P. Somarajan and senior KSACS officials were present on the occasion.

Various NGOs and organisations had also organised various programmes to observe World AIDS Day.

Uday Samudra resort at Kovalam organised a rally in the city on the occasion. About 40 employees of the hotel donated blood at the blood donation camp organised by KSACS.

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