AIDS threat

CCC centers project a failure in J&K

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Nov 30: As the Jammu and Kashmir is celebrating World AIDS Day, the much hyped centrally sponsored project to establish Community Care Centres (CCC) have died a slow death in absence of long term policy and apathetic attitude of the planners.

The project launched by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) was to establish small care centers to provide help to the people affected with HIV.

The NACO established on such centre in the winter capital of the state with the collaboration of a private trust but after about one year of the functioning the CCC closed due to the reason best known to the concern authorities.

According to the sources, this Government of India sponsored schemes was meant to avail the benefit to people suffering from AIDS, included counselling for ARV drug adherence, nutrition and prevention, treatment of opportunistic infection, referral and outreach services for follow up and social support services.

 Officials said that currently, there are 96 such centres working in the country and the GOI has targeted to set up 350 CCC.

“It become just a show and was closed down. The project is failure in the state. They would have played a crucial role in enabling PLHA to access ART, as well as provide monitoring, follow- up counselling support to pre ART and ART patients, positive prevention, drug adherence, nutritional counselling”, said a official. 

In the context Director AIDS Control Society, Dr Rakesh Khajuria said that it is disheartening that the only Rehabilitation Centre in Jammu which was established to deal with the affected patients in Jammu in collaboration Bee Enn Charitable Trust has closed down.

“Reason is best known to the NACO. I have nothing to say about its closure. However we are pursuing the case so that new centers are established”, Dr. Khajuria said. 

Preferring anonymity a official said that as compared to the last year data there is a rapid increase in the HIV positive patients this year adding that the reason is some misused to funds provided by centre government due to which that centre is closed.

“The people sitting at the helm of affairs utilized the funds for their own benefit and didn’t bother about the functioning of the schemes which benefited the needy people” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that in Jammu and Kashmir there were about 271 deaths of AIDS patients besides 3,500 HIV patients which include 253 new cases detected from April to October this year.

The data further said that 1,410 cases of HIV positive detected in 2007 while  1,594 in 2008, 1,811 in 2009, 2,300 in 2010, 3,213 in 2011 whereas the figure increased upto 3,492 till October 31 this year.