HIV/AIDS Profile of J&K State
(As on ending August 2009)

J&K State is a low prevalence state where the mean prevalence rate of HIV infection among high risk groups (STD) is 0.3% and among low risk groups (ANC) is 0.04 %, as per various Sentinel Surveillance rounds conducted during last eight years. There are 2102 confirmed HIV positive cases in the State.   799 full-blown AIDS cases have been registered out of which 133 AIDS deaths have taken place so far.  518 AIDS patients including 35 children are receiving free Anti-retroviral treatment (ART)  in our two ART centers functioning in the State.

Being a low prevalence state, the mission of J&K State AIDS Prevention and Control Society is to disseminate wholesome AIDS awareness to every citizen of the State especially living in the age group of 15 – 49 years.

Photographs of a HIV/AIDS Conferrence held at MIET College of engineering

The goal of the NACP-III is to reverse the epidemic in India over the next 5 years through integration, prevention & treatment programs. This will be achieved through implementation of following components of the programme:

Prevent New Infections: which envisages Information Education & Communication, Mobilization and Mainstreaming, Implementation of Targeted Intervention Projects for High – Risk Groups like Female Sex Workers (FSWs), Men having sex with Men (MSM), MSMs, Intervenous Drug Users (IDUs), Truckers, Migrant labourers, Jail inmates, etc. It also includes up-gradation of ICTCs, Blood Banks and STD Clinics, for ensuring prompt treatment of the people suffering from sexually transmitted diseases

Care Support and Treatment: This includes provision of  care, support and treatment services to the people living with HIV/AIDS through the establishment of ART centres, Community Care Centres & Drop-in-Centres

Institutional Strengthening by virtue of which the infrastructure is to be developed and also doctors, paramedics, etc. are to be trained for building a  human resource base for ensuring sustained fight against AIDS.

 Strategic Information Management System which envisages providing overall structure to which the objectives, activities and timelines are based. It is a step towards intensifying efforts on improving data quality from all resources, having clear role and responsibilities.

Implementation of NACP in J&K State

National AIDS Control Programme is implemented by J&K State AIDS Prevention and Control Society mainly with the help of Health & Medical Education Deptt., and other Govt. Departments, NGOs, CBOs and Civil Society for checking the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Project Director is the Chief Executive Officer on behalf of JKSACS, responsible for supervision, monitoring & implementation of various components of NACP in the State .

All policy level decisions regarding implementation of various components of programme are taken by Governing Body (GB) which is a high level committee represented by all concerned departments and headed by Chief Secretary of the State. The composition of Governing Body is as under.

After the GB, there is an Executive Committee, under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to Govt, H&ME Department which is also responsible for supervising the implementation of the programme. The composition of Executive Committee is as under:

For ensuring mainstreaming and partnership within Govt. Departments, the Govt. has recently constituted State AIDS Council vide Govt. order No. 454 – HME of 2006 dated. 02.08.2006 under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Chief Minister with following composition.

The council will facilitate mainstreaming HIV/AIDS issues in all concerned departments and forge partnerships with Pvt. / Corporate sector and civil society for preventing HIV/AIDS effectively in the State.

HIV/AIDS Profile of J&K State
(As on ending August 2009)

J&K State is a low prevalence state where the mean prevalence rate of HIV infection among high risk groups (STD) is 0.3% and among low risk groups (ANC) is 0.04 %, as per various Sentinel Surveillance rounds conducted during last eight years. There are 2102 confirmed HIV positive cases in the State.   799 full-blown AIDS cases have been registered out of which 133 AIDS deaths have taken place so far.  518 AIDS patients including 35 children are receiving free Anti-retroviral treatment (ART)  in our two ART centers functioning in the State.

Being a low prevalence state, the mission of J&K State AIDS Prevention and Control Society is to disseminate wholesome AIDS awareness to every citizen of the State especially living in the age group of 15 – 49 years.

Physical achievements of NACP-III (Component wise)  during  2008-09
Physical achievements made while implementing various components and sub-components of National AIDS Control Programme, Phase-III are summarized below

Targeted Intervention Projects for Core Groups:

Based on the mapping study and surveys conducted, the following NGOs are implementing Core Group Targeted Intervention projects in different areas of the State:

The implementation of various activities envisaged under above TI projects started in the month of February 2008 except FSW Project, Anantnag and MSM Project, Srinagar, which have started functioning from November 2008.

The project implementation is monitored on regular basis and so far about 950 core beneficiaries have been covered under different services being imparted through these Targetted Interventions

Expansion of ICTC services

22  ICTCs have been established under NACP. All these Centres are equipped & staffed as per NACO (GOI) guidelines. The Centres are  functional and are providing free counseling and testing to all clients reporting to these Centres.

The number of persons reporting to these ICTCs voluntarily for counseling & HIV testing   has increased manifold because of the successful IEC campaigns at gross root level all across the State
The cumulative work done of these ICTCs  from April 2008 to March 2009  is mentioned below:

Blood Safety:

With regard to Blood safety, 20 Blood Banks are presently being supported under NACP including three Blood Component Separation Facility Units (BCSFUs).

About 91 Voluntary Blood Donation camps have been organized from April 2007 to December 2007. During this period of time, 51342  blood units have been collected through these Blood Banks and out of which 23997 units have been collected through voluntary Blood Donation. Lab Assistants have been posted in all the 20 NACO supported Blood Banks
The below mentioned analysis of last five  years shows considerable increase in blood collection and  the percentage of Voluntary Blood Donation has raised from 20% in 2005 to 72% during  first quarter of 2009-10

STI/RTI Services

It is an established fact that effective prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections is most cost effective intervention to reverse the HIV epidemic progress.

As per the reports of State Venerologist about 13050 STI/RTI episodes have been treated during the year 2008-09 in all the 11 STD Clinics functioning in the State.

Eight additional district level STD Clinics will be made functional during the current FY. Free supply of STD Drugs in the shape of Kits has been received from NACO and has been sent to State Venerologist for further distribution among designated STI Clinics.

IEC & Awareness

JKSACS has developed an innovative State specific IEC strategy keeping in view cultural, traditional and regional ethos of the state.  This strategy is being constantly revised for bringing more and more people under HIV/AIDS awareness coverage. Radio (Including Big FM 92.7), TV spots, Jingles, Cassette’s, CD’s have been developed in all regional languages like Urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri, Gojri, Pahari, etc. Intensive use of Print, electronic, traditional and folk media made has been made for generating AIDS awareness among vast majority of population across all regions of the State. Radio has been found by CNA Study as most useful media for disseminating AIDS awareness in rural areas. After detailed discussions with Prassar Bharti authorities a special discount of 50% was obtained for broadcasting wholesome AIDS Awareness messages at prime slots in following popular programmes, which has generated widespread awareness among rural masses.
a). Shubparbat (7:25 am)      Between Kashmir Urdu News
b). Prog. for youth (12:00)     (State Hookup) on Radio Kashmir
c). Dogri News (6:20 pm)      Surkhiyan – at 9:05 am