Southern States - Pondicherry   

Rs. 70 lakhs for AIDS prevention projects

By Our Staff Reporter

Pondicherry Dec. 1. The Pondicherry Chief Minister, N.Rangasamy, today flagged off a rally by junior and senior wings of the National Cadet Corps on Beach Road here today, as part of the Government programme to create awareness among the people about HIV and AIDS.

S.P. Sivakumar MLA, the Health Secretary, C.V.S. Rama Rao, the NCC Group Commander, Col. N. Venugopal, the Director of Health and Family Welfare Services, D. Thamma Rao, and the Project Director of the Pondicherry AIDS Control Society, G.L.V. Chalapathy Rao, greeted the cadets.

An official source told reporters here today that the UNAID would grant Rs 3.5 crores, which would be utilised through coordinated efforts of the Centre, the Pondicherry wing of the Society and the Adyar-based AIDS Prevention and AIDS Control Committee, in implementing AIDS prevention projects.

The National AIDS Control Organisation had sanctioned Rs 70 lakhs for the current financial year for anti-AIDS activities in the Union Territory. The Pondicherry-based society had, through surveillance centres, collected blood smears from nearly two lakh persons since 1986 and 5000 persons had tested HIV positive.

The senior Superintendent of Police, Anil Shukla, flagged of a race, conducted by the Nehru Yuva Kendra, at Ellapillaichavady. The Education Minister, K. Lakshminarayanan, who addressed a seminar and also distributed prizes to proficient persons in various competitions, said love and affection should be shown to patients hit by HIV.

M. Balasubramanian the zonal director of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, said the programmes organised by the Kendra in collaboration with the AIDS Control Society included the rally, a youth seminar, cultural programme and a painting competition.

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