Our Correspondent
Imphal, Aug. 31 (EMN): Lamka, Tuibuong, Saikot blocks of the border district of Churachandpur are the first three blocks of the district badly affected by HIV/AIDS.
District AIDS Control Officer Dr. Romeo Sanate of Churachandpur district stated this while speaking at a one-day media sensitisation programme on ‘Newly Adopted HIV/AIDS (Prevention & Control) Act 2017’ at Synod hall in Churachandpur town on Wednesday.
On the other hand, nine out of 16 districts of Manipur are high category districts in terms of issues relating to HIV/AIDS while the remaining seven districts lie under moderate category, according to Kh Deepak, state coordinator of Targeted Interventions programme of MSACS.
“This trend shows that HIV/AIDS is still a concern for the border state,” he said. “However there is a decline in prevalence in the said districts.”
He said presently, 54 NGOs are taking up targeted interventions programmes through 63 integrated council and testing centres, 59 opioid substitution therapy centres and 13 Antiretroviral therapy centres across the state.
Most of the speakers in the discussion said that the day’s sensitisation programme is organised to give awareness to media persons in different parts of the state on how to write factually correct news on various sensitive issues including HIV/AIDS related ones after the introduction of the newly adopted HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act 2017.
Reporters, correspondents, sub-editors and editors of various media houses based in Churachandpur were present during the workshop.
The workshop, which was attended by District AIDS Control Officer Dr Romeo, Assistant Director IEC and Mainstreaming Phanjoubam Lanngamba, IEC and Mainstreaming Omajit Leishangthem and Secretary General S Nengkhanlun of Manipur Hills Journalists’ Union, was organised by the Khelen Thokchom Trust (KTT), Manipur with the support of Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MSACS).