Kolkata: AIDS Awareness Rally

In Kolkata, a social group organized a rally to increase AIDS awareness among women.

A large number of women and children turned up for the rally that was aimed at reviving flagging interest of the public in fighting HIV/AIDS that is rapidly increasing.

Screening for HIV/AIDS Infection
Efficient screening and better drugs help reduce the prevalence of HIV infection. A number of tests like ELIZA & Western Blot are used for screening HIV.

Speaking to mediapersons, Sailen Ghosh, General Secretary of the Thalassaemia and AIDs Prevention Society, said the prime objective behind organising the rally, was to protect expecting mothers and their children from the HIV virus.

"There is AIDS day on December 1, so we held opening programme with this rally. The theme for our 2011 programme is 'women's awareness' because our aim is to save the baby in embryonic stage so that infected mother may not give birth else it will be dangerous. That's why we have included maximum women and girls in this rally and also appealed them that whenever they conceive, they must get HIV tested," said Ghosh.

The UNAIDS report reveals that about 15 percent of pregnant women living with HIV across India seek treatment too late in their pregnancies-immediately before or during labour-and that they give birth to about 50 percent of all HIV-positive children in the country.

Quiz on HIV / AIDS
Statistics tell us that the world HIV+ population has risen drastically from 8 million in 1990 to a whopping 33 million in 2007! Even more alarming is the fact that young people (below the age of 25) account for half of these infections! This is adequate proof for the lack of awareness among the general public even in these modern times. So take our quiz and brush up on the essential facts of HIV/AIDS.

There are 10 questions on HIV / AIDS in this quiz that will explore the depth of your knowledge and provide answers to the following:

Immune control of HIV ()
Symptoms of HIV/AIDS ()
Cure for AIDS ()
Acute HIV syndrome ()
World AIDS day ()
Western blot ()

The report further reveals that there are an estimated 2.4 million people living with HIV in India, one of the countries with the highest numbers of people living with HIV globally.

HIV/AIDS Risk Calculator
The HIV risk quiz helps you determine risk factors for HIV.

India's fight against HIV/AIDS over the past decade has been a great success surpassing by far other countries' efforts.

There is no cure for HIV but the progress of the infection can be controlled for years by various drugs.

Source-ANI

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