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AIDS attacks Punjabis
Although Mumbai
appears to be the main focus for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS) in India, it has spread rapidly elsewhere. The first AIDS
patient in Punjab was reported in May 1987.
Prof. Sehgal S. of
the Department of Immunopathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical
Education and Research, Chandigarh, in his study, HIV epidemic in
Punjab, India: A time trend over a decade, tells us that “the first
person with AIDS in Punjab was reported in May 1987. Since then,
based upon serostatus results from 29,696 high-risk individuals
screened for HIV between May 1987 and December 1996, the incidence
of HIV infection in high-risk groups has increased from 0.3/1000 in
1987 to 59/1000 in 1997. 73% of HIV-positive cases were 30-49 years
old, the male/female ratio of infection was 3.1:1, and 29% of people
infected had AIDS. 80.5% acquired HIV heterosexually and only 2%
were IV drug users.” According to the Aids Awareness Group,
Amritsar
has over 2000 families documented to be affected by HIV.
The AIDS scare in
Punjab has hit the transport sector in a big way. The scourge of
AIDS is silently killing the productive workforce of this sector and
those close to them. If statistics released by NACO and other
international agencies are to be believed, AIDS victims are growing
and the end results are going to be horrific.
The vulnerability of
the transport sector to HIV/AIDS is due to many factors: high
mobility, difficult working conditions with low salaries, long
working hours, limited societal/familial contact and control when on
roads and peer pressure. All these pressures take the drivers and
cleaners to sex-workers, easily available in cities and on highways.
Multiplicity of sexual partners exposes them to HIV/AIDS and
Sexually transmitted infections.
Truckers are at an
increased risk also because they lack self-risk perception and their
mobility makes it hard to reach them with health information and
services. The gravity of this tragedy is further complicated by the
lack of awareness in society. The only way to prevent this disease
is to create more awareness.
One of the main
factors affecting the transport industry is sex outside marriage;
the use of condoms for such sex is one of the first steps that need
to be taken. Creating awareness on issues related to HIV/AIDS,
among this high risk population is highly imperative. It is the most
potent and only tool available to check this menace.
India still has huge
pockets across its length and breadth where mass media has yet to
penetrate. As such it is a daunting challenge for HIV information to
be widely disseminated in such areas. Amongst all the vulnerable
groups, an integrated campaign that emphasizes the benefits of
abstinence, being faithful and condom usage is the need of the hour.
Let us take the
first step. Paint your trucks with slogans about the danger of
HIV/AIDS. Write slogans for trucks that move to the remotest
corners of the country, by doing so we will be providing basic
knowledge about AIDS, not only to truckers but to other sections of
society as well.
(Courtesy: Sukh Sansar Health Education and Awareness Centre, Ludhiana)
5
December, 2007
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