The misconceptions about HIV and AIDS, anxiety, fear of exclusion and social taboo that were rampant during the 1980s had slowly been erased from society following extensive awareness programmes conducted by Health Department and various organisations, Senior Civil Judge and Member Secretary of District Legal Services Authority Parashuram Doddamani has said.
He was inaugurating the mega awareness rally and street play organised to mark the World AIDS Day in Dharwad on Friday. The district administration, zilla panchayat, Department of Health and Family Welfare, various hospitals and organisations jointly organised the programme.
Judge Parashuram Doddamani said that despite awareness, still cases of female foeticide were being reported in the county, which was a matter of shame for society. He said that there was need for further awareness on the issue and various departments should join hands with the Health Department in this regard. There was also need for ensuring stringent punishment to all those involved in the heinous crimes including the medical staff, he said.
He said that extensive awareness on HIV, AIDS had resulted in decline in the number of affected people and research and developments in the medical field had also contributed in this regard.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer Shashi Patil said that extensive awareness programmes had resulted in bringing down the HIV positivity rate in the district. The positivity rate which was 1.12% in 2017 had been brought down to 0.47% this year.
Dr. Patil said that district had recorded 664 HIV positive cases in 2017 and the number spiked to 666 in 2018-19. In 2019-20, 580 new cases were registered and during the COVID-19 pandemic, AIDS cases plunged to 335. In 2021-11, Dharwad district recorded 405 fresh cases while it was 412 in 2022-23. And this year, the district recorded 276 new HIV cases, she said.
During the year, 32,193 pregnant women were subjected to HIV tests and of them nine were found positive. Further awareness programmes had been scheduled, she said, briefing the gathering about the steps taken by the department so far in setting up the ART centre and for counselling.
District AIDS Prevention Officer Ayyanagouda Patil, taluk health officer Tanuja H.N., president of Red Cross Society Satish Irakal, secretary Umesh Hallikeri and various others were present.
Rally
Scores of Health Department staff, paramedical students from government and private hospitals, members of IMA and various non-governmental organisations took part in the awareness rally which covered the thoroughfares of the city. College students staged various street plays and monologues.
Beginning from the office of District Health Department, the awareness rally covered Anjuman College, Old Bus Station, Vivekanand Circle, Alur Venkatarao Circle and College Road before concluding at the originating point. Similar awareness rallies and programmes were conducted jointly in the districts of Haveri, Gadag and Uttar Kannada.
