Mangaluru: Zilla Panchayat’s Standing Committee on Public Health and Education chairman Shaul Hameed K K on Thursday said education and health play a key role in checking dreaded diseases like AIDS.
At World AIDS Day programme organised by the Zilla Panchayat and the Department of Health and Family Welfare at Ravindra Kala Bhavan here, Hameed said the district has been reaping the benefits of education and health with abundant facilities.
Unlike other districts, Dakshina Kannada boasts of four medical colleges attached with hospitals within a stretch of four km (near Mangaluru), he said.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Ramakrishna Rao said that out of total 523 people who were diagnosed HIV positive from January to October, about 70% are outsiders, including people from other states and the remaining 30% are locals.
Apart from the antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre opened at the District Wenlock Hospital, link centres have been functioning in Belthangady, Sullia and Puttur taluks for the benefit of affected people to continue with the treatment. In all, 3,348 people are availing the treatment at ART centres, he said.
Dr Kishore Kumar M, health officer at Chest Diseases Hospital, Moodushedde, who had previously served as the district AIDS controller, was felicitated on the occasion. The district was awarded for adopting best measures in controlling the disease during his tenure in 2013.
A Yakshagana show was organised to create awareness against AIDS. Artistes of Shambulingeswhwara Yaksha Natya Mela, Siddapura, Uttara Kannada, staged the show.