By IANS
New Delhi : Every day at least one member of the Indian armed forces is being detected with HIV/AIDS.
“Every month we are getting 30 to 40 HIV/AIDS cases among our personnel. Currently we have 6,180 HIV/AIDS patients among our ranks, but the infection rate is lower than in civilians,” Lieutenant-General Yogendra Singh, director general of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), said here Saturday.
This year alone (by the end of November), 323 personnel of the three armed forces – army, navy and air force – have been detected with the HIV/AIDS. In 2006, health authorities had found 409 HIV positive cases among the armed forces.
“We (the armed forces) have a strength of around 1.5 million. There are mainly two ways through which these people are getting infected – unsafe sex and injectible drug use. We have 10 centres across the country to treat such personnel,” Singh told reporters.
Asked if the services of these personnel are terminated, he said: “There are four stages of the disease. If someone is in the fourth stage and not eligible to serve the country, then his job is terminated, but the rest get treatment and continue in the service.”
Singh said all those who are HIV positive are not in the last stage. “Maybe, around two percent of these personnel are in the last stage.”
Lieutenant-General Saibal Mukherjee, Director General of Medical Services (Army), said that the armed forces had reported 461 cases of HIV/AIDS in 2005 and 475 in 2004.
“We are carrying out a massive information, education and communication campaign among our personnel, and have certainly achieved success. The trend is decreasing,” Mukherjee told IANS.
According to officials, the AFMS has undertaken many research projects that include improved diagnostics and treatment, and control modalities for tropical disease and HIV/AIDS.
“There are 10 immunodeficiency centres that are responsible for providing latest treatment to these patients,” Mukherjee added.
India is home to 2.5 million HIV/AID patients, including 80,000 children below the age of 14.
Nine more armed forces hospitals are coming across the country and plans are afoot to induct 10,590 new health professionals to meet growing health demands and reduce doctors and patients ratio in the defence service.
Currently, there were 127 armed forces hospitals and scores of ambulances with emergency medical facilities attached to them.