To help increase awareness of HIV/AIDS, a national helpline has been launched, so members of the public can easily get information on the virus and the disease.
The helpline, 1097, was launched on the occasion of World AIDS Day on December 1, on behalf of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which has partnered with Piramal Swasthya, a part of the non-governmental organisation Piramal Foundation, which works in healthcare, among other fields.
The 24x7 helpline will function as a one-stop solution for citizens to avail of comprehensive information on AIDS, counselling services, information and referral as well as grievance redressal.
It will be accessible in eight languages, including Tamil. While the call centre hub will be located in Hyderabad, the calls will be forwarded to regional-level call centres, depending on the language chosen by the caller, said Balaji Utla, head, Piramal Swasthya.
“Our employees have background in nursing, paramedics, sociology or psychology and have undergone training at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in collaboration with NACO. Most have experience working in the field,” said Mr. Utla.
He said the helpline received around 8,000 calls on its first day. “The helpline is meant for anybody who wants to know about HIV/AIDS. Many of the calls we have got as of now are such calls. Other calls are from those who have had unexpected sexual encounters and want to know what to do, or, from those with HIV/AIDS who want to know where the nearest ART centre is,” he said.
On December 1, the World Health Organisation’s regional offices for South-East Asia and the Western Pacific called on member States to recognise that in order to achieve the UNAIDS fasttrack targets by 2020, with the aim of ending AIDS by 2030, key populations most vulnerable to HIV must be reached urgently.
