The number of HIV/AIDS positive cases has come down appreciably in the district. From 5 per cent out of the tests done among the general population a few years ago it was now half of it, at 2.14 per cent this year till October.
The positivity noticed among the blood units after a test was 0.16 per cent (67 out of 41,418), which showed a continued trend of low presence of positive cases for the last few years.
Visakhapatnam district which has a lot of floating population with its harbour and airport, the National Highway running for a long distance and the area attracting a large number of people to work in the factories and construction area, is the right place for recording a higher number of HIV/AIDS positive cases.
But the trend has come down thanks to the awareness drive conducted through several media the incidence has come down. It was 16.9 per cent in 2002-2003 and started a steep fall since 2009-2010. During 2014-15 the positive cases recorded were 2.5 per cent (2485 out of 98,367 tested).
While the number of cases is coming down, the hitch-pitch awareness campaign witnessed some years ago is absent now. Awareness about HIV/AIDS is much more compared to the past which is the reason for the low number of positive cases being recorded. The information, education and communication (IEC) programme in the past was largely funded by voluntary organisations like the Bill Gates Foundation but they are not funding it any more and the area that causes a worry is about the group of youngsters and others who are not exposed to the intensive campaign, Additional District Medical and Health Officer (AIDS and leprosy) Rokkam Ramesh said. The Visakha AIDS Control Society of the GVMC is also not functioning now. It used to take up campaign on a big way while campaign by the educational institutions has also been reduced.
Medicines for the HIV positive and AIDS patients are supplied by the Central Government through the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and there is no dearth of it. The State Government has increased the pension amount to the AIDS HIV patients from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 from December last and it is paid through an ATM card, for which a bank account is not needed. The ATM card is issued only to the patients who take medicines regularly for three months. Pension takes care of patient’s expenditure on nutritious food, which is needed along with intake of medicines life long to increase the life span. The hike in amount prompted many to apply for pension. As many as 4,300 cards were issued and applications for 3000 more are pending with the State Government.
Dr. Ramesh said most of the positive cases are in the 19-39 years age group and the incidence is mostly reported along the National Highway area.
