Adopt stricter policy to check AIDS

The speakers included SSG Hospital Medical Superintendent Kamal Pathak, Skin and Venereal Diseases Department head, Yogesh Marfatia, AIDS physician Atul Patel and Sushma Baxi, Vidya Date and K M Jani from the Vadodara Medical College.

While admitting to the fact that there was a general lack of information among health workers and doctors, the speakers seeking a stricter national policy on the issue said that the Union as well as state governments should make HIV tests mandatory at the time of admitting all patients, and not only of suspects as was the case currently.

Urging the gathering to be extra careful while treating and examining AIDS patients, the speakers in their respective speeches said at least 199 cases of occupational transmission had been reported last year in the world.

Stressing on the need for standard laboratory services, they also highlighted the need for a regular training for medical and para-medical staff in handling the cases.

The doctors also appealed to the counsellors and the health workers to refrain from giving shocks8217; to the patients during their treatment as it had often been observed that the latter would react by committing suicide.