Fighting HIV/AIDS needs more holistic approach'

Underlining the need for specialists from diverse fields like medicine, nursing, public health, sociology, psychology and economics to come together and work against HIV/AIDS, Lt Gen Pradeep Khanna, the General Officer Commanding-In-Chief, said that awareness is a key towards achieving this end.

Khanna was speaking at the inaugural function of the three-day workshop on HIV/AIDS- Facets and Challenges' that is currently underway at the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). The workshop, which is being attended by officers from across the country, will end on August 1.

"Advancements in medical science has changed the nature of HIV/AIDS from once a death warrant to a chronic, manageable disease. But people who suffer from this disease need care and support. We also need to fight the social stigma attached to HIV/AIDS," he said. Explaining the need for awareness, Khanna cited the case of a unit that returned to India from abroad with 75 per cent of the personnel infected with HIV.

Delivering the welcome address, Lt Gen Shiv Kumar Sharma, the director and commandant of the AFMC, outlined the research work being carried out by the institute to fight the disease. "The AIDS Control Organisation in the Department of Community Medicine has been guiding the AIDS control programme in the Indian Armed Forces for a long time. The decreasing number of cases in the armed forces is a good sign," said Sharma.

Maj Gen Mandeep Singh, additional director general of the AFMC (medical research) delivered the key note address on the response of the armed forces to the disease. "The first case of HIV/AIDS in the armed forces was detected in 1991, when a soldier returned from a UN mission in Cambodia. The number of HIV positive cases though has come down to about 0.2 to 0.3 per cent for the entire force," said Singh.

Speaking of the success of the AIDS control programme, Singh said that the decline in the number of cases was the result of several successful steps, including detailed surveillance policy, setting up of a vibrant health programme, a vibrant relationship with the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) and the introduction of Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) with specific criteria, among others. "Today, AIDS is no longer the top cause of morbidity. In fact, we are compared with the US army when it comes to the low rate of HIV cases," he said, but warned that it should not be a reason for complacency. "We are also planning on reworking on our AIDS policy in the next fortnight," Singh said.