Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

The news that HIV/AIDS infection in the three hill districts of Manipur bordering Myanmar -- Churachandpur, Chandel and Ukhrul -- is on the increase mainly due to commercial sex workers from that country spreading the dreaded disease should be taken note seriously by the authorities. Myanmar is a country where the incidence of HIV/AIDS is 1.3 per cent of the total population (240,000 out of 47,373,958) while it is 0.3 percent is case of India. Myanmar ranks lowest among countries worldwide in international assistance per capita and among lowest in the world to get antiretroviral treatment access by the patients. Currently, fewer than 20% of HIV-positive people in need of drugs receive them -- either from international groups or in small amounts from the government -- according to a report of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) released in November 2008. More alarming is the fact that an estimated 42 per cent of Myanmarese women in the age group pf 15-49 carry HIV by the end of 2007. So, ne...

Imphal, June 20 : Even though the spreading of HIV/AIDS in the valley area has been able to control, the same is continuing in the three hill districts bordering with Myanamar, Churachnadpur, Chandel and Ukhrul, said project director of Manipur AIDS Control Society, Dr Kh Promodkumar today. The project director observed this while speaking as guest of honour at the concluding function of the two-month entrepreneurship development programme for people living with HIV/AIDS organized by the Institute of Co-operative Management (ICM) under the sponsorship of the MACS and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Co-operative commissioner, P Vaiphei attended the function as chief guest in the function which was presided by ICM chairman Kh Borkishore. Promodkumar said, the spreading of the dreaded disease in the three districts of Manipur, Churachandpur, Chandel and Ukhrul located along the 358 km long porous international border with Myanmar is on the raise citing the main spreading agen...

Dipsubaba's thoughts: It is bizzare as well as tragic. Imagine a man suffering from HIV/AIDS would also have to face the emotional trauma of social indignity with his breasts starting to develop like that of a woman after taking ART drugs. He must have cursed himself or the fate for contracting the fatal disease and now he will have to cope with something unusual. Let's have a thought of the plight of the man, his name rightly not been disclosed by the media. A newspaper report described the insult he was subjected to by security personnel while frisking, making sneering remarks and even molested his breasts. "Although the weather is simmering with summer heat, I cannot help wearing thick jackets just to cover up my enlarged breasts," he said, adding that he has been staying aloof from all social functions and religious ceremonies for the same embarrassing reason. It could perhaps also be the first of its kind in the medical history of HIV/AIDS treatment. A study/rese...

2007 -- A year of new twist: Imphal, Jan 3: The calendar year 2007 ended and issues relating to HIV and AIDS surfaced every now and then throughout the year, touching the consciousness of the people. Going by the figures, this year there were 2528 new HIV positive cases reported and 177 AIDS cases and 21 deaths. This is based on the epidemiological analysis report published monthly by Manipur State AIDS Control Society. Though the report is to be published monthly, the latest report published by MSACS for the year 2007 is till the month of October. From September 1986 to January 2007 out of 1,86,095 blood samples screened, altogether 25,433 positive samples were found. The rest are males with only 5,892 female blood samples. Out of this, 3,977 people developed AIDS and 578 died. In the September 1986 to October 2007 report, out of 2,21,119 blood samples screened, the number of positive samples were 27,961 with the number of female rising to 7,106 and AIDS cases reaching 4,154. There we...

Mr Manipur shows there is life after HIV: Imphal, Jan 2: Being a dream for every body builders, winning the Mister Manipur Contest, is undoubtedly no mean achievement, and it is all the more so in case of Khundrakpam Pradipkumar, who has been living with HIV for the last seven years. ''I have been living with HIV for the last seven years. However, in these seven years I have worked hard to prove that HIV is not an obstacle in our endeavour'', said Pradipkumar, who is still in euphoria from winning the title of Mister Manipur contest in the 60 kg of the State Level Mister Manipur Contest organised by All Manipur Body Building Association here recently. ''Most of the time, people living with HIV always under estimated themselves and they think that they are not capable of anything in life which is not true. We are capable of many things and in order to prove this we have to come out'', he exhorted. He said, ''Winning the Mister Manipur contest has ...

CM stresses need for commitment, determination: Imphal, Dec 28: The Chief Minister of Manipur on Friday gave a call for firm determination and commitment to meet the challenges of HIV/AIDS in the state. The CM, inaugurating the one day state level convention on HIV/AIDS at Panchayat Bhawan, said that collective effort with mass participation is the answer to the prevention and eradication of HIV/AIDS. Ibobi said that the elected legislative members are going to show their commitment and participation in fighting HIV/AIDS. He said that the MLA Local Area Development Fund Act has been amended to enable sanctioning certain amount for HIV/AIDS related programmes in each assembly constituencies. However, he said that percentage of fund to be allocated is not yet decided upon. Inspiring the zilla parishad members and pradhans to get actively involved in the issue of HIV/AIDS, the CM said that each member of the panchayat should look into the details in their respective villages and do time b...