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Tamil Nadu turns the clock back on AIDS

Tamil Nadu has the dubious distinction of being one of the first states in India, along with Maharashtra, where the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus cases came to light in India when, in 1987, the discovery of six HIV cases seared the nation's conscience.

The state has, however, come a long way since then, and it now has an enviable Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome control programme.

Tamil Nadu's work in control and prevention of AIDS has been appreciated so much that the World Bank considers it a model for implementation in other states.

Proxy indicators, pregnant women and voluntary blood donors in the state show that at present, 0.5 per cent of the population might be infected with HIV, according to health department figures. If this rate could be maintained for the next two years, Tamil Nadu might turn out to be among the biggest success stories in the worldwide fight against AIDS.

While the national sero-positivity rate per thousand is 22.39, Tamil Nadu has the ninth highest rate (15.53) among the states in India. Manipur with 177.71 and Maharashtra with 106.04, are ranked number one and two respectively in the list. More than 700,000 people have been screened for HIV in this southern state, the highest in the country.

Thailand, considered the most effective model among developing counties in controlling AIDS, has an infection rate of four per cent. Among the developed nations, the US and European countries have restricted the rate below one per cent but have done so with much more time and money at their disposal.

Spearheading the battle against AIDS in the state, is the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, the apex body for formulating policies and implementation of programmes.

Things have been planned well by the state administration, right from the organisational structure of TNSACS. It is a society working with government finances and monitoring, rather than being just another government department. This gives TNSACS more flexibility, and work goes on smoothly without the usual bureaucratic delays, said society officials.

Impressed by TNSACS's efficiency, the National AIDS Control Organisation, the body which makes policy guidelines and funds available for AIDS control in the country, has decided that each state will have a registered society on the lines of Tamil Nadu.

The success of TNSACS stems from its interventionist strategies suited to the state's conditions. The AIDS control programme have been divided into two phases: in the first phase, mass awareness about HIV and 'high risk' sexual behavioural change was targeted.

As many as 96 per cent of the state's population have been made aware about AIDS, joint director of TNSACS P K Rajendran said. It would, however, take about five years for the effect of this awareness drive to show, project director T K Allaudin said.

In the second phase, which started from the beginning of this year, projects for the care of AIDS patients are being undertaken as more and more people enter the final stage of the dreaded disease.

In fact, from the first phase itself, the society supported AIDS patients care projects, deputy director T P K Palanisamy said.

TNSACS also has the distinction of having about 160 non-governmental organisations, which is more than the total number of NGOs working in all the other states of the country, working with it in awareness, control and prevention and care activities.

Even officials of USAid, the US-based organisation which provides financial assistance for the state's AIDS control programme, have commended the joint effective working between NGOs and the government, NGO advisor for the society D Thanikachalam said.

The NGOs have better access than the government agency in sensitive areas such as counselling on sexual behaviour, Allaudin accepted.

The state is also one of the few in the country to fully utilise the funds made available to it. There are no hitches in the way of the flow of money, channelised through NACO to the grassroots where funds were required, society deputy director R Parasuraman said.

Tamil Nadu was the first to introduce a 24-hour telephone service for AIDS-related information in 1995, he said, and added that Delhi followed the example and started a similar service this year.

Dr Vimala Ramalingam, in-charge of blood safety for the society, said the state banned professional blood donors way back in 1989, another first for the state, while the Supreme Court put a ban on such donors in 1997.

Considering all this good work and the whole-hearted involvement of the administration, politicians and public figures, the anti-AIDS wave has spread all over the state. It seems it would become the first to effectively check AIDS, a far cry from the day when it become the first state to detect HIV positive cases in the country.

UNI

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