Initiatives to Prevent HIV Among Migrants

Praising the initiative taken by the health ministry in tackling the spread of AIDS especially among migrants, the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that there was still a lot of work to do in order to reduce the spread of the HIV virus. Speaking at a meeting of the consultative committee on Health and Family Welfare that had been convened to debate strategies on HIV prevention, Mr Azad said that states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan needed to be monitored closely as the out-migration here was very high.

Mr Azad also said that the prevalence of HIV in the southern States had been reduced through targeted interventions at truckers and other migrants.

He also praised the work done under the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres scheme across the country in 2009-10 under which over 143 lakh people, including 61.2 lakh expecting mothers, were counseled.


Source-Medindia