Koderma, March 7: A staggering 102 HIV-positive cases were detected in the district last year and more cases are being reported.

A patient Jagmohan (name changed) died of AIDS recently. But the state health department and the National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) are yet to take steps to arrest the spread of the disease.

“Whenever we find patients admitted to our hospital with symptoms of prolonged fever and weakness, we conduct Elisa test. The test is also conducted on pregnant women. So far, we have found 102 patients, who have tested HIV-positive. Recently, a three-year-old child tested positive but his parents tested negative. It indicates that he might have picked up the virus through blood transfusion or an infected needle,” said Sister Sancia of Holy Family Hospital here.

“Elisa is not a confirmation test, but due to widespread poverty, patients are unable to bear the cost of confirmatory tests like Western Blot. The kit for this test is not available in the district.

There might be thousands of undetected cases in the area as the virus incubates for a long time and manifests years later. This creates problems as the carriers can spread the disease unknowingly,” she said.

“We have been trying to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS in the area for five years. We make posters, charts and pamphlets in the rural and urban areas. So far, no government agency or even Naco has come to our aid. We are doing our best with our limited resources,” she added.

District civil surgeon Lallu Chaudhary said: “Many of those who test positive are migrant labourers and truck-drivers, susceptible to unsafe sex. Five years ago, villagers used to believe that they would never get the disease. Now they are taking the matter seriously.”

According to sources, “The district hospital is yet to get a HIV detection kit even though Naco is spending crores of rupees to combat HIV/ AIDS.”

The state government has recently constituted the Jharkhand AIDS Control Society with IAS officer Rajiv Arun Ekka as the project director. “We are in the process of formulating an action plan for the district so as to implement the intervention programme effectively. In our proposed action plan, transporters and truck-drivers, line hotels, crusher workers and students are given importance as they form a vulnerable group,” said the civil surgeon.

In 2000, the Bihar AIDS Control Society, under the banner of Family Health Awareness Programme, had organised a “youn mangal mela (sex education fair)” here.

The response to the fair was good, where all kinds of sexual ailments were addressed.

But after the formation of Jharkhand, no such programme has been undertaken in the district.

Holy Family Hospital, which also acts as an NGO, works in the far-flung areas like Dholakola, Gujhandi and Dibour. Health and sanitation, formation of self-help groups, destitute homes, and mobile health clinics are its achievements. About 100 women self-help groups are functioning in the district and many women have adopted goat rearing, poultry farming, and vegetable selling as their vocation. They now earn their own livelihood.