HIV/AIDS awareness roadshow in West Jaintia Hills to promote early testing, reduce stigma

Shillong, July 14: The Meghalaya AIDS Control Society (MACS) on Tuesday launched an HIV/AIDS Awareness Roadshow in West Jaintia Hills to strengthen public awareness on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.

The campaign was flagged off at Ummulong Stand, Iawmusiang, Jowai, by Emelya Ch. Momin, MCS, Assistant Commissioner, who attended the programme as the chief guest.

Dr Patricia Shylla, District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO), West Jaintia Hills, along with officials from the Health Department and MACS, was also present.
The roadshow aims to educate communities on HIV/AIDS, STIs, and evidence-based methods of prevention while encouraging people to adopt informed health-seeking behaviour.

A key focus of the campaign is to promote voluntary HIV counselling and testing (HCT) and increase awareness about the availability of free HIV testing services across the state, enabling early diagnosis and timely treatment.

The initiative will also disseminate information on the range of services available under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), including Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTCs), Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centres, Link ART Centres, Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) Centres, and Prevention of Parent-to-Child Transmission (PPTCT) services.

Another major objective is to combat HIV-related stigma and discrimination by promoting accurate information, empathy, inclusion, and respect for the rights and dignity of People Living with HIV (PLHIV).

As part of the campaign, a Blackbox mobile awareness vehicle will travel across West Jaintia Hills and other districts in the coming weeks, taking awareness messages and information on HIV prevention, testing and treatment directly to communities.

The state-wide initiative seeks to encourage greater public awareness, promote preventive practices, facilitate early testing, and foster informed conversations on HIV/AIDS.

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