AIDS control bodies to empower ‘vulnerable’ women

Women will be the target group of the AIDS control nodal agencies in the coming year.

On the occasion of World AIDS Day on Thursday, the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) and the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) announced that their theme of the year will be the empowerment of women, who, the authorities claim, are most vulnerable to contracting the HIV infection.

“Women are also very concerned about their family’s health. Women in our society have poor access to information, which is critical in HIV’s context since behaviour is key to bringing the epidemic under control. There is evidence that women’s access to health services is significantly affected by socio-economic conditions, within which she negotiates her health needs,” explained Dr SS Kudalkar, project director, MDACS.

Dr Ramesh Devkar, project director, MSACS, echoed Dr Kudalkar. “We want to bring down the mother-to-child HIV transmission to nil,” he insisted.

State health minister Suresh Shetty highlighted the difficulty in reaching out to children afflicted with HIV. “Our major concern is the 14,000 children who have contracted the infection. Some of these kids are parentless or have single parent. We are coming out with a project to ensure that they get the best medicines, nutritious food and other facilities. We are also trying to reach out to rural women so that they have access to information and treatment for HIV.”

Shetty stressed the need to focus on woman-to-child HIV transmissions and on removing the stigma attached to AIDS.