Berhampur: With Ganjam district having the maximum number of HIV/AIDS infected persons in the state, the district administration in a bid to avert transmission of AIDS from mother to child, has decided to launch HIV screening programme for pregnant women in the village level of the district.
The primary screening will be done on the village health nutrition day aka ‘Mamata Day’ by Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) at all the 460 sub-centres of the district along with syphilis screening on Tuesday and Friday every week.
The ANMs have been trained earlier for the screening. After primary screening, suspected cases will be referred to the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) for final test. According to reports, 28 ICTCs are functional at present in the district.
District Project Manager for AIDS Control, Hemant Kumar Das said, ” Presently the HIV test for pregnant women is done at primary and community health centres.”
With as many as 848 HIV infected pregnant women in the district, the district administration has also suggested to make the screening mandatory for all pregnant women in the rural belt of the district.
Kalinga AI