Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh today said the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Manipur was alarming.
Speaking during World AIDS observation here, he said there are about 42,000 persons living with AIDS, including about 11,000 women and 2000 children.
The Manipur government framed AIDS policy as early as 1987 after the first case was detected in 1984 and it will be revised, he said.
According to Project Director (PD) of MACS Dr S K Chourasia, this year’s World AIDS Day is observed under the theme ‘Getting to Zero’ which means Zero Infection, Zero Discrimination and Zero Death.
MACS officials speaking on the occasion said in the state there are about 12 Anti-Retro Viral treatment (ART) centres, 11 linked ART Centres and 10 Community Care Centres. It had been estimated that in the country 1.5 lakh lives are saved due to ART treatment which started in 2004.
The latest round of HIV Sentinel Surveillance was completed in 2011. Giving a picture of the situation in our country it was informed that India is estimated to have an adult (15-49 years) HIV prevalence of 0.27 per cent in 2011.
Adult HIV prevalence among males and females is estimated at 0.32 per cent and 0.22 per cent respectively.
In 2011, among the states, Manipur has shown the highest estimated adult HIV prevalence of 1.22 per cent, followed by Andhra Pradesh (0.75 per cent), Mizoram (0.74 per cent), Nagaland (0.73 per cent), Karnataka (0.52 per cent), Goa (0.43 per cent) and Maharashtra (0.42 per cent).
Besides these, Odisha, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Chandigarh have shown estimated adult HIV prevalence greater than national prevalence (0.27 per cent).
It is estimated that around 1.16 lakh new HIV infections among adults and around 14,500 new infections among children occurred during 2011.
Of the 1.16 lakh estimated new infections in 2011 among adults, the six high prevalence states account for 31 per cent of new infections.
India has demonstrated an overall reduction of 57 per cent in estimated annual new HIV infections (among adult population) during the last decade from 2.74 lakh in 2000 to 1.16 lakh in 2011 .
The total number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in India is estimated at 21 lakh in 2011.
Children (<15 yrs) account for 7 per cent of all infections, while 86 per cent are in the age -group of 15-49 years. Of all HIV infections, 39 per cent (8.16 lakh) are among women.
It is estimated that about 1.48 lakh people died of AIDS related causes in 2011 in India. Deaths among HIV infected children account for 7 per cent of all AIDS-related deaths.
Wider access to ART has led to 29 per cent reduction in estimated annual AIDS-related deaths during NACP-III period (2007-2011).
As the first few cases of HIV infection of the country were reported in 1986, the Manipur State Government also took serious note of the problem and initiated a series of important measures to tackle the epidemic.
With the formation of the high-powered National AIDS Committee in 1986 and as it launched its National AIDS Control Programme in 1987, Manipur immediately set up a State AIDS Committee under the chairmanship of Chief Minister.
State AIDS Cell was established in the State Health Directorate under the supervision of one medical officer. (UNI)