The Mizoram government will make separate budgetary provision to fight the growing HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state, an official of the state health department said on Friday.

The official said health minister R. Lalthangliana told experts during a review meeting of integrated HIV/AIDS action plan here on Thursday that the government, apart from deciding to allocate a separate budget, is planning to fight AIDS on a war footing.

Lalthangliana also asked experts to help the state government in fighting the growing spread of HIV/AIDS keeping in mind the mentality, culture and ethos of the local populace.

The minister also expressed hope that the review meeting, which involved the country’s top experts in the field, will chalk out a better action plan that effectively curbs the spread of HIV in Mizoram.

Organised jointly by the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco), ministry of health and family welfare and Mizoram government, the two-day event concluded on Friday.

Christian-dominated Mizoram, which shares porous borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, has the dubious distinction of being the highest HIV-prevalent state in the country with at least 2.04 per cent of the total population of about 11 lakh being infected with HIV.

Manipur, with 1.43 per cent of its total population being infected with HIV, stands at second followed by Nagland, while the national average is 0.2 per cent.

According to officials of the Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), nearly 2,000 people have died as a result of AIDS in the state since the first case was detected in October 1990 and altogether 19,631 HIV cases have been detected in the state till date.

They said more than 67.21 per cent of HIV-positive cases were sexually transmitted, while about 28.12 per cent cases were transmitted through sharing needles by intravenous drug users.

Officials said the HIV prevalence rate is “extremely alarming” and in 2018-2019 alone 2,557 new cases were reported with nine persons testing positive every day.

Analysis of the HIV-positive cases confirmed at the testing centres show that people in the age group of 25-34 years are the most vulnerable in Mizoram, followed by those in the age brackets of 35-49 years and 15-24 years.

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There has been steady decline in HIV/AIDS cases in Dakshina Kannada district since last 11 years, thanks to a slew of awareness programmes undertaken by the department of health and family welfare, NGOs and other organisations, said DHO Dr Ramakrish Rao.

From 1,169 cases in 2008 among general clients, the number of tested positive cases have declined to 256 in 2019 (till date). In 2008, 15,857 general clients were tested for HIV/AIDS in the district. While in 2019, a total of 41,845 general clients were tested for HIV/Aids, said Dr Rao to mediapersons here on Thursday.

He said that HIV infection among pregnant women have come down to 0.06 % in Karnataka. There are 472 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) in Karnataka. Though 14,18,176 pregnant women underwent screening for HIV/AIDS, as many as 891 were tested positive to HIV in the state, said the DHO.

There are 64 Anti Retroviral Treatment centres, 313 Link ART centres in Karnataka. Though 3,30,850 infected were registered at these ARTs , only 2,55,194 have been availing ART. Of which, 1,61,925 are undergoing regular treatment in Karnataka, he added. Dr Rao said there are 20 ICTCs, two ICTCs under PPP mode, 2 ART, 13 Link ART in Dakshina Kannada district. As many as 93 Red Ribbons Clubs have been started in colleges to create awareness on HIV/AIDS in the district.

ART helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives and reduces the risk of transmission to others. A total of 8294 persons with HIV/AIDS are registered at ART centres in DK, of which, 4501 are male, 3193 are female, three transgender, 326 male child and 271 female child. As many as 4140 infected are undergoing treatment at ART, of which, 2055 are men, 1750 are women, 1 transgender, 171 male child and 163 female child, said the DHO.

World AIDS Day

DK district administration, Zilla Panchayat, Department of Health and Family Welfare, AIDS Control unit, legal services authority will organise World AIDS Day, at Fr Muller’s Medical College auditorium on December 6 at 10 am. District and Sessions Judge Kadlooru Satyanarayanacharya will inaugurate the programme. A rally will be held from Shanthi Nilaya Maidan in Balmatta to Fr Muller’s Medical College premises.

Replacement of blood

Dr Sharath, Blood Bank Officer Wenlock Hospital said hospitals have been encouraged to stop replacement blood donation and instead achieve 100% voluntary blood collection for patients. There are possibility of high risk donors taking part in replacement blood donation.

The Wenlock Hospital had achieved 99 % voluntary blood collection for patients last year. He said out of 14 blood banks in DK, only 1,658 units of blood is collected through replacement blood donation in 2019-20 (from Apirl to Oct) and 19,105 units of blood is collected through voluntary blood camps.

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The New York City’s Department of Health released their 2018 HIV Surveillance Annual Report this Friday, proudly noting that for the first time ever, the number of documented diagnoses of HIV was under 2,000, a 67% drop from 2001.

According to their press release, new diagnoses are also down in almost every demographic, except for transgender people, and men who have sex with men (MSM) and use needles.

“New York City can end the epidemic if we continue to fight against the stigma, bias and discrimination that continue to be significant drivers of HIV, particularly among Black and Latino men who have sex with men,” remarked Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

The Department of Health credits the community and government working together “to prioritize science over stigma and sex-positivity over shame” for this news. They also cite Bill de Blasio’s 2015 Ending the Epidemic Plan as a major contributor to prevention and public awareness, as well as the city’s “U=U” campaign, which informs the public about those with HIV who cannot transmit the virus, or undetectable (hence “undetectable vs. untransmittable”). The Department of Health estimates 87% of those who contracted the virus are undetectable or ‘suppressing’ the virus.

Additionally, the development and release of the HIV prevention drugs PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), both of which can prevent transmission of the disease either before or after exposure to the virus.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than $490,000 is being doled out to seven Florida counties as part of a national effort to try to eradicate HIV and AIDS in the next 10 years.

The funding is made possible as part of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, which was announced by the Trump administration this year. Money became available for counties to spend Oct. 1.

“For this plan to succeed, we want to engage the help of every Floridian,” Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, flanked by Department of Health Secretary Scott Rivkees and others, said during an announcement Tuesday in Tallahassee.

Nunez outlined Florida’s four-step plan that includes routine testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases and access to pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent the spread of HIV.  

The pre-exposure medicine must be taken daily and is effective for people who are at high risk of exposure to HIV. The post-exposure medicine is to reduce the risk of HIV infection in physicians and other medical professionals. 

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. There is no cure for HIV, which weakens people’s immune systems. HIV is most commonly transmitted through sex or through syringes.

The rate of HIV diagnosis in Florida in 2017 was 22.9 per 100,000 people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That put Florida behind the District of Columbia and Georgia, which had diagnosis rates of 46.3 and 24.9 per 100,000, respectively.

The new grant funding announcement was made on National Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Event. Nunez said there has been an “incredible increase” in the spread of HIV in the Latino community, noting that Latinos accounted for 34 percent of the new HIV diagnoses in Florida  in 2018.

She encouraged Latinos to know their HIV status, which she said helps reduce the spread of the virus and, if the disease is treated early, lowers mortality rates.

Beyond that, though, Nunez said there needs to be more compassion.

“Treat HIV like other chronic illnesses to help reduce the stigma and shame and the discrimination in the Hispanic and Latino community,” she said.

During his State of the Union address in March, President Donald Trump announced his goal to end the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. 

The following month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a multi-phase approach to eradicating the disease. Phase one is to diagnose all people with HIV as early as possible.

Phase one includes funding for the 48 counties and seven rural states with the highest HIV incidence. The seven Florida counties are Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Duval, Hillsborough and Pinellas.

The funding Nunez announced Tuesday all came from federal grant dollars; there are no additional state dollars being targeted at the county health departments as part of the plan.

Nunez gave assurances that state would avail itself of all funding coming its way. The Guardian reported last month that former Gov. Rick Scott’s administration returned $54 million in federal grant funding meant to combat the spread of HIV in the state. Scott became a U.S. senator in January and was replaced by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Joining Nunez at Tuesday’s announcement were Rivkees and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical epidemiologist John Brooks, along with directors of some of the county health departments receiving the funds.

“We owe it to those who are no longer with us, and the thousands of people who are fighting every day, to put an end to this disease,” Rivkees said of using the grant dollars.

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Responding to the directives from the Sindh High Court, the provincial health department on Friday notified the constitution of the Sindh HIV/AIDS Control, Treatment and Prevention Commission, which comprises retired judges, doctors from the Pakistan Army and Police Service of Pakistan, lawyers, social workers, experts working in the field of HIV and AIDS treatment in Sindh as well as other provinces of Pakistan.

“…..the competent authority is pleased to revise and notify the Commission for Sindh HIV/AIDS Control, Treatment and Prevention with immediate effect,” said a notification issued by Health Secretary Saeed Ahmed Awan.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered the provincial government to establish a commission for prevention, control, care, support and treatment of HIV and AIDS and had directed it to produce the notification in the court on September 17, 2019, compelling the health authorities to notify the creation of the commission on Friday, officials said.

Dr Sharaf Ali Shah, a former project director of the Sindh Control Program and renowned physician working in the field of HIV and AIDS treatment in Pakistan, told The News on Friday that a division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Faisal Agha had issued these orders in a petition pertaining to implementation of the Sindh HIV and AIDS Control Treatment and Protection Act, 2013.

According to Dr Shah, the petition was filed by various individuals and organisations, including the War Against Rape, Pakistan Association for Mental Health and the Pakistan Institute of Labour, Education & Research, for the implementation of the Sindh HIV and AIDS Control, Treatment and Prevention Act 2013.

“Actually, the Sindh health department had notified a commission earlier, but the majority of its members had refused to be part of it, making it an ineffective body. Now on the directives from the Sindh High Court, they have created the commission comprising people from civil society, including me,” he added.

Health department officials said Dr Majida Rizvi, Dr Bashir Arain, Shabir Shaikh, Gul Muneer Shah, Dr Hussain Bux Memon would be the members of the governing body of the commission, while the working body would consist of Dr Rafiq Khananai, Dr Shobha, Dr Naseem Salahauddin, Dr Fatima Mir, Asif Soomro, Dr Sharaf Ali Shah, Muhammad Raza, Mrs Rubab, Bindia Rana and the program manager of the Sindh AIDS Control Program.

Earlier, the civil society organisations in their petition before the Sindh High Court had submitted that under Section 3 of this act it is responsibility of the Sindh government to implement and enforce this act with certain powers given under the same section 4, which further provides that the government shall within fifteen days from the promulgation of the act by notification establish a commission for prevention, control, care, support and treatment of HIV and AIDS in the province.

The petitioners’ counsel had argued that despite the promulgation of the law in 2013 no commission had been made so far to effectually implement the act. In the previous hearing, the court directed the additional advocate general of Sindh to submit comments and intimate the court as to when the commission would be constituted and submit the data with regard to HIV and AIDS patients.

In response to the petition, the health department furnished a report, which disclosed that a summary had been submitted with the chief minister for the constitution of the commission. Health department officials had sought two months; however, the court had granted two weeks’ time to the department to issue the notification for establishing the commission.

The health department report also revealed that nine centres were functioning for the treatment of AIDS in the province. The registered number of AIDS patients in Sindh is 12,071, while conservative estimates suggest that there are more than 65,000 AIDS patients in the province.

As many as 5,444 adults and 311 children diagnosed with HIV are under treatment in the Civil Hospital Karachi and 300 such patients are being treated in a Lyari hospital.

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BAHAWALNAGAR    –   Citizens are concerned over the rapid rise in the number of AIDS cases with 24 cases reported recently in the district.

The Health Department has confirmed 15 prisoners in the district jail and nine citizens as having HIV on Monday.

Bahawalnagar Health Department had diagnosed 24 patients with AIDS during the last eight months. Out of these cases, 10 were discovered during the past two months.

District Officer Health Dr Waheed Afsar Bajwa said that 15 of the AIDS patients were prisoners at the Bahawalnagar District Jail, adding that nine citizens were also diagnosed with AIDS.

He said that those diagnosed with the disease were between the ages of 20 and 30 years and one patient out of the total 24 was a woman. The Nation has also acquired the list of the patients diagnosed with AIDS.

Dr Waheed said that the use of surgical instruments by quacks was the main reason behind these cases, adding that the frequent use of disposable syringes also caused infection. He said that on instructions of the Punjab government, measures were being taken to eradicate the disease.

Meanwhile, according to the jail sources, the prisoners diagnosed with AIDS were not separated from rest of the prisoners-a serious threat to the wellbeing of other inmates. Superintendent Jail Zubair Cheema, while talking to The Nation, refuted the presence of any prisoner diagnosed with AIDS.

He said that according to the results of blood sampling of prisoners, no prisoner was infected with AIDS. He, however, said that PCR and other tests were yet to be conducted for Hepatitis and AIDS.

He said that according to the notification of the Punjab government, prisoners were held separately until screening tests for Hepatitis and AIDS.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Health Department has not taken steps for the eradication of the spread of AIDS among inmates and citizens, and all their efforts are limited to the files only.

The increase in the number of AIDS cases has also not prompted the department to constitute a ward for patients.

CEO Health Dr Waseem told The Nation that no separate ward was established for AIDS patients because those diagnosed with HIV virus were at early stages of the disease and did not need to be hospitalised. He said that no patient had been identified so far who needed to be admitted to a hospital.

Citizens and social circles across the district have demanded that Health Secretary take notice of the lethargic attitude of the Health Department who are not taking measures to control the spread of the disease.

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New research led by University College London suggests that early blood pressure problems have a negative effect on brain health later in life. The investigation was focused on data from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), which is the longest-running birth cohort study in the UK, 

The sub-study, Insight 46, was designed to identify early signs of dementia among individuals in the years leading up to their 70s. The research will provide experts with a unique perspective on specific risk factors that may impact brain health.

While previous research has linked high blood pressure in midlife to an increased risk of dementia, the mechanism which underlies this association has remained unclear. 

The current study followed 502 individuals from the NSHD, who were all born in the same week in 1946. The participants were free from dementia at the start of the study, and most of the individuals underwent scans to evaluate their brain health. 

The brain scans allowed the researchers to search for levels of a key Alzheimer’s protein called amyloid. The scans also showed the size of the brain and the extent of any blood vessel damage. In addition, the NSHD data included measurements of the participants’ blood pressure at various ages from 36 to 69.

The analysis revealed that higher blood pressure at the age of 53, or a gradual rise in blood pressure from 43 to 53, were both associated with more evidence of blood vessel damage or “mini strokes” in the brain by age 70. On the other hand, blood pressure was not associated with the level of amyloid protein in the brain or any memory problems at a later age. 

“This unique group of individuals, who have contributed to research their entire lives, has already shaped our understanding of the factors influencing health throughout life,” said Professor Jonathan Schott. 

“The Insight 46 study has allowed us to reveal more about the complex relationship between blood pressure and brain health. The findings suggest that blood pressure even in our 30s could have a knock-on effect on brain health four decades later.”

“We now know that damage caused by high blood pressure is unlikely to be driven through the hallmark Alzheimer’s protein amyloid, but through changes in blood vessels and the brain’s architecture. The findings show that blood pressure monitoring and interventions aimed at maximising brain health later in life need to be targeted at least by early midlife.”

Dr. Carol Routledge explained that, even though the Insight 46 study is not yet complete, the initial findings are shedding new light on the mechanism by which hypertension could damage the brain. 

“High blood pressure in midlife is one of the strongest lifestyle risk factors for dementia, and one that is in our control to easily monitor and manage,” said Dr. Routledge. 

“Research is already suggesting that more aggressive treatment of high blood pressure in recent years could be improving the brain health of today’s older generations. We must continue to build on this insight by detecting and managing high blood pressure even for those in early midlife.”

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