AIDS ignorance showing up

PUNE, Feb 25: Does one contract AIDS through kissing?Can one get AIDS thorough the barber's razor?How does one use a condom? Is it really...

PUNE, Feb 25: Does one contract AIDS through kissing?
Can one get AIDS thorough the barber8217;s razor?
How does one use a condom? Is it really effective against AIDS?
Is it true that AIDS spreads only through commercial sex workers?
For the first AIDS hotline service started in the city at Sassoon General Hospital, the response has come more than just surprising to the doctors as they have discovered a very high degree of ignorance among the citizens about the dreaded disease.

What started as a novel experiment nearly two months ago to create awareness among general public about the disease, is now all set to transform into one of the most comprehensive data studies on AIDS awareness in the country.

The AIDS hotline cell is now gearing up to analyse the stockpile of information which it has collected in the form of AIDS related queries made to it.

8220;We are now making preparations to analyse the data which we have collected and draw some important inferences relating to the degree of AIDS awareness in the society,8221; Dr P S Patki, professor at the B J Medical College Pharmacology department and one of the experts associated with the service told The Indian Express.

One of the revelations that the hotline service has brought forth is the fact that AIDS has cut across all barriers of age, religion, sex, class and socio-economic criteria in the society. 8220;We have been getting queries from every section of the society,8221; he said.

The most glaring observation for the expert doctors associated with the cell has come through the personal question8217; option in the automatic answering service.

The questions, which are recorded and then answered through a fool-proof confidential system, range from the unfounded fears about the AIDS, misconceptions about sexual disorders to even shocking misinformation about one8217;s sexuality.

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These comprise college students, women, promiscuous groups, people of diverse sexual orientations seeking basic information on AIDS. So there are men relating their habit of masturbating with AIDS and students asking as to how does one use a condom!

By evaluating the data we intend to find out the areas where the common people need to be imparted maximum knowledge about AIDS. The results of the evaluation, to be taken after the data of three months, will be subsequently incorporated in the hospital8217;s next ambitious mission of creating mass awareness about AIDS, Dr Patki adds.

The round-the-clock service, launched on January 5 this year, has received an overwhelming response with number of queries having crossed the 11,000 figure in less than two months.

Out of the latest figure of 11,067 the break-up according to the language in which the callers have sought information is also interesting. So far the maximum calls 7017 have been made in Marathi. This is followed by English 2425 and Hindi 1625.

The number of hotline service is 626506.