The drop in the number of HIV cases is little to be happy about. For, the city has seen a steady increase in the number of migrants infected with the virus in the last few years.
The drop in the number of HIV cases is little to be happy about. For, the city has seen a steady increase in the number of migrants infected with the virus in the last few years.
The National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) has, therefore, decided to focus all its efforts on the migrant communities in the country.
According to NACO officials, although the HIV prevalence rate in Mumbai and Maharashtra saw a downward trend in the last few years, the figures for the migrant population tell a different tale. A total of 3% of the national migrant population (314 million) is HIV-positive. What has sent the alarm bells ringing at the nodal HIV control agencies in the city is that although Mumbai is migrants’ most favoured job destination, it is difficult tackle the spread of the infection due to the population’s fluidity.
Dr SS Kudalkar, project director, Mumbai District Aids Control Society said, “Mumbai sees a high influx of migrant population and Maharashtra is the primary destination for migrants. So, it is essential for us to keep a tab on the migrant population’s role in the spread of HIV. But the worry is that it’s difficult to keep track of all migrants.
He explained, “The migrant population is always moving around. The Maharashtra State Aids Control Society has undertaken projects in Thane, Uran, Navi Mumbai and other places which have a high migrant population. Truckers are highly susceptible to infections and we are trying to tackle that as per NACO guidelines.”
Ramesh Devkar, project director, Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), said, “Maharashtra has 17 lakh migrants. We’ve been able to reach only 7.8 lakh of these.”
The NACO’s campaign will see its state units sharing information on HIV-positive migrants with their counterparts in other states.
“All states have their own state Aids Control Society. One state will share the migrant-positive data with the state the person frequently visits. This is to ensure that they don’t miss out on treatment,” said a NACO official.
Also on the cards are aggressive HIV awareness programmes in states with a high migrant population.
The MSACS, though, will concentrate on the single male migrant population in the state. “NGOS will help identify people involved in risky behaviours like visiting commercial sex workers or having unsafe sex,” explained Devkar.
Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur are among those areas that have a high single male migrant population. “We are targeting single male migrants as they are alone in the city and tend to take more risks than others,” said Devkar.
Maharashtra has around 6.2 million migrants, a majority of whom are from UP, Karnataka, Bihar, AP and Goa. “HIV is more prevalent among rural women than urban women, which indicates the likely role of the migrating population,” said the NACO official.
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