The Hindu
26 August 2010
By Aarti Dhar
New Delhi, India

A strategy to tackle the increasing trend of HIV positivity among migrants is being put in place, particularly in the States that reported high levels of out–migration.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said this at a meeting of the consultative committee on Health and Family Welfare to discuss the HIV/AIDS prevention programme here on Wednesday.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan, where out–migration was high, needed to be watched carefully.

A significant number of people belonging to the high risk groups, including truckers and migrants, were reached through targeted interventions.

This method had proved successful in bringing down the prevalence of HIV in the southern States, Mr. Azad pointed out.

Declining trend The HIV epidemic has seen some stabilisation with adult prevalence now estimated at 0.31 per cent, compared to 0.36 per cent in 2006. The six high–risk States had shown a declining trend.

Mr. Azad said a total of 143.8 lakh clients, including 61.2 lakh expecting mothers, were counselled at the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres across the country in 2009–10.

For people with HIV–AIDS, 64 new anti retroviral therapy (ART) centres were established in the last one year and 89,000 patients were receiving free ART treatment.