A three-month long integrated health campaign of the Meghalaya AIDS Control Society (MACS) began from Sutnga CHC.
People from four villages Moopala, Mookympat, Sookilo, and Sutnga attended the health camp and availed various health services including testing for HIV, STD, and TB, Non-communicable diseases, MHIS and Aadhaar enrolment among others.
MACS in collaboration with the district administration, District Medical & Health Officer and other line departments aim to conduct the health campaign in the entire East Jaiñtia Hills district by covering 200 villages and 63 static camps to reach out to the high-risk population and the vulnerable population.
East Jaiñtia Hills Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal informed that HIV prevalence in the district is the highest in the entire state at 2.8 per cent. He said though records suggest that 2500 people are living with HIV, the figure is incomplete because people don’t get tested.
He also stressed on the importance of HIV screening and testing and said 95 per cent of the people should know their HIV status.
MACS Project Director, Dr B. Decruse said that the main objectives of the integrated health campaign is to create awareness amongst the people of the district on various health-related issues, how to address the issues and how to avail the services that have been provided, screening and testing to the general public of common health problems at the static health camps so that people will know their general health conditions and know their status and thereby by provide them or link them to treatment centers.
Minister of Revenue and Management, Kyrmen Shylla who inaugurated the camp at Sutnga expressed concern on the number of HIV-infected persons in the district and he called for a collaborative effort from various line departments and the public to tackle the problem by reaching out to all the villages and especially those affected individuals.
