AIDS incidence in MTHs declines to 8%

Vijayawada: Pehchan project, in association with the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (APSACS), has been organising a campaign to create AIDS awareness among MTH categories i.e., Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM), Trans-genders (TG) and Hijras across the State since 2010 to curb the spread of the disease.

Speaking at a meeting held at the Press Club here on Monday on the occasion of World AIDS Day, Pehchan project manager Vijay R Nair said that it was covering 31,679 MTH population in Andhra Pradesh. At the time of launch of the project in 2010, the incidence of AIDS among the MTH population was very high. The project, in association with SACS, had succeeded in bringing down the rate from 24 per cent to less than 8 per cent by 2014 by effectively organising the AIDS awareness campaign, he claimed.

Pehchan (Guntur) project manager J Venkateswarlu said the MTH population was sensitised to the alarming rate of incidence of the disease in the State. As part of implementation of the project, better coordination among various departments was being maintained to achieve good results in curbing the spread of the disease, he said.

Chandrika, president of Sneha Godavari Society (SGS), West Godavari, said that Pehchan project made the MTH population realise the grave threat posed by AIDS to society. The project also helped the community members get access to medical facilities in government hospitals without any discrimination against them.

The awareness campaign of the project has covered more than 5,500 TGs/Hijras in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States.