The government is committed to making Karnataka an AIDS-free State by 2030, says Dinesh Gundu Rao

Dinesh Gundu Rao, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said here on December 1 that the government is committed to making Karnataka an AIDS-free State by 2030.

Speaking at the World AIDS Day programme, the Minister urged stakeholders to join hands in this endeavour and help achieve the goal.

Mr. Rao said that since 2004, 1,16,200 people in the State have died owing to lack of proper treatment. HIV does not spread by sharing food or through cold and cough, he added. HIV-positive individuals too have the right to live with dignity in society, he underscored, and called for the timely commencement of Antiretroviral Therapy or ART treatment so that the infection does not progress to AIDS.

He attributed the onset of the disease to unsafe sexual contact and the shared use of contaminated needles among those who use drugs. It can also spread from a HIV-positive pregnant mother to her baby, he explained. But in recent years, transmission has also been increasing through male-to-male sexual contact, Mr. Rao added.

Calling for the creation of greater awareness about AIDS, the Minister stated that the focus in this regard should be on areas with a greater youth population, hostels, colleges, and areas where sex workers predominantly live.

Padma Basavanthappa, project director of AIDS Prevention Society, said that the focus of World AIDS Day this year is to provide required services and facilities to HIV-positive individuals and protect them from stigma and discrimination.

She said the State has 442 functioning standalone Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres centres and 94 ART centres operating in district government hospitals, several taluk hospitals, and some private medical colleges. In addition, 290 Link ART centres are functioning in taluk-level hospitals, Ms. Basavanthappa added.

Information, Education, and Communication materials were released to mark the occasion and individuals who have worked in AIDS-related programmes were felicitated. A New Year calendar was released by the blood donation camp team.

Earlier, as part of World AIDS Day, a public awareness march was flagged off from Kote Anjaneya Temple. K. Harish Gowda, MLA, C.N. Manje Gowda, MLC, Dr. P.C. Kumaraswamy, District Health and Family Welfare Officer, Dr. K.R. Drakshayini, Dean of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Dr. Mohammed Shiraj Ahmed, District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit Programme Officer, and others were present.