NACO to formulate strategy to tackle HIV-AIDS in North East

After conducting its HIV Sentinel Surveillance, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has agreed to formulate a special strategy to tackle prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the North East region.

This was announced at the consultative meeting on North East Specific Strategy on HIV in Aizawl today.

Participants of the consultation said Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, bordering Myanmar, have the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS and the region had unique problems not experienced in other parts of the country.

Close proximity of the region with Myanmar through which drugs were trafficked to the West made the North East vulnerable to drug users resulting in high rate of drug abuse and addiction, they said.

"Due to unique situation of the region, operational guidelines of the NACO for the rest of the country are hardly applicable to the North East," one of the speakers said adding, the social structure and religious practices of the region required different approach and strategies.

While incidences of HIV have been on the decline in the other parts of the country, the NE region saw steady increase in fresh infections, reports of the HIV Sentinel Surveillance said.

State health minister Lal Thanzara inaugurated the counsultation, which was attended by NACO officials led by Deputy Director General Dr Neeraj Dhingra, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and state AIDS control society officials from North East states.