Tamil Nadu intends to restrain AIDS patients’ number through toll-free helpline
It is estimated that the number of people living with AIDS in India is between 2 to 3 million and of this nearly 2.5 lakh people reside in the state of Tamil Nadu. However, in spite of possessing this raw data, the government is yet to get the actual figure. Is it the failure of the government? You may call it but the government is facing an obstacle to assess the situation. There has been the registration of only 1.05 lakh people with the AIDS Prevention and Control project so far. Well, to get over this sticky situation, the government has introduced an innovative approach.
It has launched a toll-free helpline for people living with HIV/AIDS which is certainly a bizarre concept in the conformist culture of India. Speaking on this said Dr S Vijaykumar, Special Secretary, Health and Project Director and Member-Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, told the gathering, "We are aiming at 75% registration; only then will they benefit from the services being provided." He also added that 40 more ART link centres would be set up next year in addition to the existing 50 centers.
Well, it was Health secretary V K Subburaj, who launched the toll-free service making the first call to Hello+ on 1800 419 1800. While speaking on this he said, "The state has a good success rate in creating awareness, taking preventive action, creating facilities for patients and developing supportive programmes.” “Now, the launch of the helpline has fulfilled a long-felt need for providing counseling to meet the needs of a patient's individual psyche, because AIDS and leprosy are the only two diseases with a stigma attached. So patients don't talk about these two problems to their family or friends. They need to be counselled regularly and given the right information, which no amount of literature on the subject can provide,"
The main objective of Hello+ will be to deal with an assortment of subjects at the same time. It is destined to render health education, psycho-social counselling along with linkages to trained healthcare providers, non-governmental organizations in the field and positive networks. It is just like a call center and will function through a public-private partnership between the AIDS Prevention and Control project and Tata Business Support Services.
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