Haryana will establish 10 new Integrated Counseling and Testing Centers (ICTC) along with 50 Facilitated Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres (FICTC) in this financial year. Also, two new STI clinics would be established in the State.
Haryana State AIDS Control Society, Additional Project Director, Dr Vijay Garg said that with a view to provide treatment to HIV patients at their doorsteps, one new Anti-Retroviral Treatment Center (ART) at Medical College Agroha and six Facility ART centers at Ambala, Sonipat, Jind, Bhiwani, Sirsa and Kaithal would be established in the year 2014-15.
He said that HIV prevalence is showing a downward trend in all population groups in the state. As per the Haryana sentinel surveillance data, the general prevalence is just 0.11 percent and by the ICTC data, the prevalence has decreased from 6.47 per cent in 2006 to 0.89 per cent till March 2013.
Similarly, the prevalence had decreased among blood donors from 0.22 per cent to 0.12 per cent and in High Risk Groups, i.e female sex workers (FSW) from 1.19 per cent to 0.58 per cent and men having sex with men (MSM) from 5.39 per cent to 2.06 per cent.
He said that among the injecting drug users (IDU), it has decreased from 2 per cent to 1.01 per cent till 2010. He said that there has been a vast expansion of the programme in the last three years. As many as 68 NGOs are working in the state to cater to the high risk group populations like FSW, MSM, IDUs, Migrants and truckers.
He stressed on the need to create awareness on HIV/AIDS and drug abuse among general public. Though Haryana is a low prevalence state, but every effort should be made for combating the deadly disease. Every individual should get his or her HIV status confirmed from the nearest ICTC center and proceed accordingly, he added.