Hyderabad, January 06: Your desire for a `massage’ in the nearby `special massage/ beauty parlours’ could make you an easy victim of HIV/AIDS. The risk is more in case of these `massage centres’ located in urban areas.
Despite the decreasing number of HIV/AIDS cases in the State, a visible increase in new ways of contracting the disease was witnessed in several urban areas.
These facts came to light during the preliminary mapping conducted by Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society (APSACS) in association of Catalysts Management Services on high-risk groups in the State. The survey is conducted in 147 towns of 14 districts and the survey in another 64 towns of nine districts will be completed in the next couple of months. The major cause for 93 per cent of the new HIV/ AIDS cases is sexual transmission where the disease is spreading fastly through sex workers.
Speaking to reporters here today, APSACS project director R Chandravadan said that the survey will be completed in the next couple of months and a report will be submitted to the Government for further action. Admitting that the HIV/AIDS cases are increasing among high-risk groups, Chandravadan said that the migration of labourers and also sex workers to urban areas from nearby villages has become a major cause of concern for them in the spread of HIV/AIDS.
“Nearly 65 per cent of soliciting is taking place through cellphones. There is an increase in home-based or street-based sex workers as against decrease in brothel- based or lodge-based sex workers,’’ Chandravadan said. However, detailed statistics of the survey are not available as the study is midway and the complete report will published during February.
The Society will launch a new campaign in March to create awareness on HIV/ AIDS.
–Agencies–