The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Aug 14: The Manipur government has constituted a five-member officers team of the state for coordination and review of implementation of programmes in connection with HIV/AIDS prevention initiative by the police force.
The officers of the team include Anand Prakash, IPS, IGP(AP), Lunsieh Kipgen, IPS, superintendent, Mainpur Central Jail, N Noren Singh, director fire service, RK Tutusana, joint secretary, home, Dr. Kh Pramod Kumar, project director (T), Manipur AIDS Control Society, MACS, Imphal.
IPS Anand Prakash has also been designated as nodal officer at the state level, an order of the state government said stating that the nodal officer would interact with the project director (T), MACS for conduct of HIV/AIDS related programmes at the police, jail and fire service departments.
According to the Manipur State AIDS Control Society report, HIV broke out first among drug users in Manipur in 1990, but the state government did not come up with a policy on AIDS until 1996. HIV/AIDS infection is no longer confined to a particular group of people but has taken roots in Manipur, spreading to the general population, MACS observed.
The history of HIV/AIDS in Manipur is vastly different from the rest of the country as almost 72 percent of the infections are believed to have spread through the IDU route. Manipur’s population is only 0.23 per cent of India's, but it contributes over 8 percent of the HIV-infected population.
But the pattern of infection is different in the state. While the sexual transmission route for the virus is as high as 86 percent in other regions of India, in Manipur about 72 percent of HIV infections are caused by rsharing of needles and syringes by drug addicts.
Currently, about 20 NGOs in Manipur are funded by MACS to exchange new injecting equipment for old among drug users so that they do not share needles. The project director recalled how in 1990, after the first HIV-positive cases were found among six IDUs in Manipur, the entire society - including women activists, police and insurgents — swung into action to get rid of the IDUs.
To fight with HIV/AIDS in Manipur, a historic step was taken towards positive action with the constitution of the Parliamentary Forum on HIV/AIDS which was followed by “Imphal Declaration of Manipur Legislators - 30th June, 2007� at a one-day conference on HIV/AIDS held at the Assembly hall on June 30 last year.
The move of the state government drew wide appreciation from the public as well as NGOs working in the field.  

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