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National Aids Control Organisation
AIDS is one of the deadliest medical threats in the modern world. This epidemic has evolved and become a significant threat only in the last few decades and so far we do not have any comprehensive cure for the same. So all we can do is take some preventive measures and be careful. But for that there must be awareness among people regarding the way HIV transmits. Various national and international organizations have been trying to do the same. The National AIDS Control Organization is the national organization in India that handles these aspects of AIDS control. It is known mostly by its abbreviation NACO and it has been at the forefront of the official battle against HIV epidemic.
NACO is basically a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It runs various nationwide programs for the control of HIV/AIDS and leads 35 AIDS Prevention Societies across the country.The idea of NACO came up in the late 1980s when the first ever AIDS case was detected in the country. The government realized that the threat will only grow in the future and a nationwide program was needed to build awareness among the people.Finally the first National AIDS Control Program was launched in 1992 and the first phase ran till 1999. The objective in this phase was to control the spread of AIDS in the country. It concentrated on building awareness among people, especially among the low income groups and illiterate classes. It also spent a lot of resources in building infrastructure such as blood banks and blood component separation facilities across the nation. It invested in various facilities to treat sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in smaller towns and villages. It formed alliances with various non-profit organizations (NGO) for spreading the network across remote areas.
After the initial objectives were achieved, the phase two was started in 1999 and it lasted till 2006. This period saw targeted Interventions with the help of NGOs, identification of High Risk Groups such as commercial sex workers (CSWs), drug users who use injections and bridge populations like migrants labourers. The program concentrated on studying behavioural patterns and communication among the infected people, control and cure of STDs and promotion of contraceptives such as condoms. It also tried to spread the facilities for counselling. Various voluntary counselling as well as testing facilities were established in the hospitals and healthcare centers. It also pushed for several policy initiatives including the National AIDS Prevention and Control Policy, National Rural Health Mission and National Blood Policy that can handle AIDS related issues.
The Challenges for NACO
The National AIDS Control Organization, in merely two decades of its existence, has done a significant amount of work in controlling the spread of AIDS in India. But still the challenges remain on its path. The main issue here is that the spread of AIDS mostly happens sexually. Among the conservative families of India, sex is still a taboo subject and hence it is very difficult to have an open dialogue regarding the same. The threat of AIDS is more among the low income groups who are also less educated. Another challenge for NACO is to control increasing drug usage among the youth, especially in certain pockets of the country. But there are several other factors such as foreign trafficking and law and order associated with it and hence NACO cannot handle them alone and will need full cooperation of other departments of the government.