IMPHAL, Dec 11 NNN: The Population Foundation of India (PFI), Manipur State Unit on Tuesday organized a ‘state exposition’ at Hotel Classic, Imphal showcasing the journey undertaken by district level networks of People Living with HIV/AIDS during the course of the Promoting Access to Care & Treatment (PACT) programme on the theme “Lead-Empower-Deliver.”
The inaugural function of the exposition was followed by an experience sharing session of PLHIV group members, a panel discussion on entrepreneurship and sustainability. Various products were also displayed by the district level network groups at the exposition.
Attending the inaugural function of the exposition, Dr Shailesh Kumar, Director, Manipur Aids Control Society (MACS) said that in the year 2011, only three persons among 99 youths who had attained the age of 18 were tested HIV positive, while in 2012, among 57 youths of the same age, only one was tested positive and it has shown that new infection of HIV has been significantly declined in Manipur.
Dr Usha, Director, District Family Welfare, Imphal West, who was also taking part at the function, said the “getting to Zero”, the international theme for International AIDS Day 2102, is possible when people use condoms in sexual contacts and conduct proper blood test during the early part of pregnancy and blood transfusion as well.
Ten stalls were opened at the exposition selling various handloom and handicrafts products of the district level network groups. Some vegetable stalls were also among them.
Dr Phunindra Babu, project director, PFI and Rupachandra, special correspondent, Seven Sisters’ Post graced the function as chief guest and president respectively.
A cultural performance by people living with HIV marked the concluding session of the function.
This year’s edition of the state exposition organized by PFI aimed on showcasing the achievements of the programme to different stakeholders who have worked under civil society-Government-private sector partnerships during the programme period.
It also aimed to share the experiences of PLHIV networks on their enhanced capacity in programme management and working towards their own sustainability and providing a platform for PLHIV to have a direct interface with the Government and private sector agencies to find out various ways of strengthening the existing models of their income generation activities. Further, the exposition aimed to initiate new models based on the capacity and interest of PLHIV networks.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/manipur-exposition-programme/
