Daijiworld News Network – Mangalore (VM)

Mangalore, Mar 15: As per the tests conducted in the Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centres (VCTCs) Dakshina Kannada district has 521 AIDS affected. Udupi has 90, Kasargod 78 and Kasargod has 555 cases reported.

This was disclosed by said District AIDS Nodal Officer Dr Ramakrishna Rao at a meeting organised by the Deputy Commissioner here on Monday March 13.

Expressing commitment from government and various organisations to support the cause of AIDS infected, Dr Rao said that a care and support unit at Moodushedde is a tangible step. The Moodushedde hospital has 10 beds and it had started functioning in January.

In 2005, as many as 1,576 men and women have taken services from the VCTC at KMC and 406 were tested positive. Of this 79 were men, he informed.

At the PPTCT at Lady Goshen a total of 553 people were tested in 2005 of which 5 persons have been tested positive. In Bantwal of 137 persons tested, none have been tested positive.

According to Dr Rao unsafe sexual practices have been noted as prime factor for the spread of HIV infection. Of the 1,044 HIV positive cases detected last year, 734 had contacted it due to unsafe sexual practices, he said.