new Delhi : Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) has developed guidelines for interventions, online dating sites men having sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW) like HIV becoming popular with vulnerable population groups. ), who have now taken to the internet to connect with their customers, according to senior ICMR officials.
It aims to map such population groups and conduct risk behavior surveys among them. A team of experts from NARI engaged with app operators like Tinder and Instagram to understand how these major population groups work, and developed the guidelines.
“In the last 10 years, online dating platforms have boomed. An emerging trend is being observed that vulnerable population groups have shifted from physical sites to online locations. We can call this a “new age shift” because there were first people who used drugs, male or female sex workers who had sex with men. Such population groups are vulnerable to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). It is thus necessary to enhance the existing HIV and STD prevention and care program so that it can also extend its reach in virtual platforms,” said Dr Samiran Panda, Additional Director General, ICMR, who is also the principal investigator of the project.
According to the National AIDS Control Organization, an estimated 2.319 million people are living with HIV in India. The incidence is higher in Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Telangana, Karnataka, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, Goa and Tamil Nadu.
“We need to know what is the size of such major population groups and who is using these virtual spaces, among other nuances. However, we do not have as much information and clarity about individuals working through physical locations as we have. What kind of vulnerability do they have due to working through virtual space? We have to do the mapping and sizing and then setting up the outreach. That’s why these guidelines are very important. They will come out in the public domain very soon. The importance of these guidelines is responding to change in the new era,” Panda said.
“The World Health Organization’s country office in India has supported NARI in developing these guidelines and is a great boost to the program. Unless we initiate such interventions, we will be far from reaching the target of HIV eradication in India by 2030,” said Dr Amrita Rao, a scientist at ICMR-NARI who is one of the principal investigators of the project. Huh.
To reach “at-risk” populations for HIV and STIs, the government has set up more than 34,000 testing centers.
There are 1,900 anti-retroviral treatment centers and 1,400 targeted interventions running in the country which are providing services to such vulnerable population groups.
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