Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (APSACS) introduced 10 mobile vehicles for integrated counseling and testing centre (ICTC) for HIV with the cooperation of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

Minister of Health Satya Kumar Yadav flagged off 10 mobile ICTC vehicles at Siddhartha Medical College here on Friday.

Addressing the gathering, the Minister said that 16 ICTCs have been actively working to prevent spread of HIV and the State government introduced mobile ICTCs to extend services to the people in remote villages. The staff in the mobile ICTCs would conduct HIV tests with three different kits. The mobile ICTCs also extend service to the prisoners in jails and others who were suffering from HIV and provide counseling to them.

The mobile ICTCs would conduct differential HIV screening/testing, counseling, index test, social and sexual net-work mapping, treatment for STIs, supply of ART medicine. There will be a counselor, lab technician, driver and attendant to provide service. The Central government would bear the expenditure to maintain the vehicles.

Andhra Pradesh Medical Services and Infrastructure De-velopment Corporation purchased the 10 vehicles each at a cost of Rs 30.6 lakh.

The HIV infected persons would be given ART medicine free of cost and the persons who received ART medicine for six months would be given a monthly pension of Rs 4,000.

Out of the 25 lakh HIV positive cases across the country, 2.22 lakh cases were in Andhra Pradesh next to Maharashtra which is in the first place. However, the State had achieved considerable progress to control the spread of HIV.

Special chief secretary MT Krishna Babu, district collector Dr G Lakshmisha, APSACS project director Dr A Siri,

family welfare director

Dr Padmavati and others participated.