PREVENTION OF MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION OF HIV TO BE STREGNTHENED
The
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C.P.Thakur
has said that Government has given priority to National AIDS Control
Programme which is evident from the fact that highest budgetary
allocation has been allotted to this programme as compared to
other health programmes. This has been done to contain the spread
of HIV/AIDS infection which undermines social and economic development
throughout the world and affects all levels of society. The Minister
was addressing the Consultative Committee meeting attached to
the Ministry. He said that the sentinel surveillance
data clearly indicates that even
though the number of AIDS patients are still growing, the rate
at which the infection is spreading is showing a declining trend
in the last three years. In the absence of any treatment for the
cure of the disease effective implementation of prevention and
control strategies can help in checking the transmission of HIV
infection, the Minister said.
The
Minister
stated that the Government has decided to scale up the Prevention
of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. In the first phase
of the programme, all medical colleges in high prevalence States
would be covered followed by the districts in the States of Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland;
and thereafter other medical college hospitals in the country.
All these institutions would start delivery of PMTCT services
by the end of December, 2002. The mother to child transmission
can be reduced by using anti-retroviral drugs like AZT (Zidovudine
or Nevirapine).
Dr.
Thakur informed the Members that to minimize the risk of
transmission of HIV infection through blood and blood products,
Government has taken a series of measures. The drugs and cosmetics
rules provide mandatory testing of blood for HIV in addition to
other blood transmissible diseases namely Hepatitis-B, Hepatitis-C,
Malaria and Syphilis. Strengthening of blood banks have been taken
up by the Government up to district level hospitals. All these
measures initiated by the Government had reduced the percentage
of HIV infection occurring through blood transfusion from 8 per
cent in 1992 to 3.4 per cent in 2001.
The
Minister also dwelled on the National Anti-Malaria Programme
(NAMP). The programme is being further intensified during the
X Five Year Plan period by integration of ongoing control programmes
for malaria, filariasis and Kala-Azar and also including a component
for Dengue/DHF as well as Japanese Encephalitis prevention and
control. The major thrust during X Plan will not only be on effective
malaria control but also concerted efforts are being planned for
Kala-Azar Elimination and Filariasis Elimination from the country.
The
Members appreciated the efforts by the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare in creating awareness about the AIDS Programme.
They suggested attempts should be made to motivate more people
to attend the family health awareness campaigns specially in the
rural areas. Monitoring of the AIDS awareness campaigns by NGOs
is a must for evaluating the targets. Other system of medicine
like Ayurved should be encouraged to find the treatment for the
disease the Members said. Suggesting measures for National Anti-Malaria
Programme, some members expressed that the Malaria Eradication
Programme should be as intensive as Polio Eradication Programme
undertaken by the Government. Local NGOs, Panchayats and elected
representatives should be associated more effectively in the implementation
of this programme.
MOS,
Shri A. Raja
thanked the Members for their valuable suggestions and assured
them that the doubts raised by them will be taken care of. The
Members who attended the meeting were Shri Virender Kumar, Dr.
M.Jagannath, Shri Sunder Lal Tiwari and Dr. Ram Lakhan Singh from
Lok Sabha and Smt. Bimba Raikar, Dr. M.N.Das, Shri M.M.Agarwal,
Dr. (Smt.) P. Selvie Das and Shri Kalraj Mishra from Rajya Sabha.
