IMPHAL, Feb 5 - Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda arrived here on a two-day visit to Manipur to launch a new initiative called �Project Sunrise� to tackle the rising HIV prevalence in Northeastern States, especially among people injecting drugs.
The project which aims to diagnose 90 per cent of such drug addicts with HIV and put them under treatment by 2020 will be launched at the City Convention Centre here on Saturday, official sources said.
The Union Minister is also scheduled to chair a review meeting on NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) relating to HIV/AIDS projects implemented in North East on Saturday.
�Health Ministers of NE States will be attending the meeting wherein we will discuss important health issues of the State and the NE in detail,� said the Union Health Minister while addressing BJP workers at BJP Manipur Pradesh office here on Friday. The meeting was attended BJP Manipur unit President Th Chaoba, newly elected BJP MLAs Kh Joykishan, Th Biswajit and other party leaders.
The �Project Sunrise� would be sponsored by USA-based Centre for Disease Control and would be implemented by Family Health International 360. NACO Director General NS Kang and Project Directors of AIDS control societies of the Northeastern States have also already arrived here for the programme.
NE States like Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland account for highest adult (15-49 years) HIV prevalence in the country, according to latest government reports. Estimates of 2015 reportedly show Manipur tops the list with adult HIV prevalence (1.15 per cent) against the national average of 0.26 per cent.
Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at Centre is giving special emphasis to NE which is underdeveloped, Nadda informed that the seriousness of NDA Government is to change the scenario in North East.
The Union Minister will also visit the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences here on Saturday to oversee its functioning.