HAILAKANDI, Dec 5 - Hailakandi district presently has 35 HIV-positive AIDS patients and they have been identified during the last ten years in the Hailakandi Civil Hospital here. This information was revealed in the World AIDS Day function here.
To mark the day, a meeting was organised at the SK Roy Civil Hospital here under the presidentship of Dr Abul Hussain Barbhuiya. Speaking on the occasion, the female counsellor of the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PPTCT), Sangita Bhattacharjee said the number of patients is increasing slowly and during the last ten years from 2005 to 2015, altogether 35 HIV-positive patients have been identified and they are getting treatment in the Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
She said that the innumerable people come for blood test everyday and the pregnant women are mandatorily undergoing HIV test in the hospital. She urged the people to come forward for blood test free of cost if they have any doubt and stressed the need of creating awareness on the causes of spreading of HIV/AIDS.
The meeting was also addressed by the retired Joint Director of Health Services, Dr PK Mazumdar, president, general secretary and publicity secretary of the Barak Valley Voluntary Blood Donors� Forum, Dr Paritosh Chandra Dutta, Sudarshan Bhattacharjee and Sankar Choudhury respectively, Harakishore Chanda, district media expert of the National Health Mission (NHM) in Hailakandi, Monika Das, Ranjit Ghosh, in-charge of the blood bank of Civil Hospital, Dr Rehena Begum, District Programme Manager of NHM, Hanif Mohammed, hospital administrator Bhaskar Das, Samiran Paul, Nasir Uddin Laskar, among others.
All the speakers stressed the need of awareness among the common people as there is no final treatment of HIV except awareness. On the occasion of the World AIDS Day, the blood bank of the civil hospital started functioning and Sankar Choudhury was the first to donate blood voluntarily in the blood bank.
