Shillong, Aug 28: KHADC chief executive member, Hispreaching Son Shylla on Tuesday termed HIV/AIDS infection “a threat that will put the indigenous community at high risk of epidemic” and urged the state government to tackle the problem on a war footing.

Shylla statement also corroborated his claim that the Khasi Social Custom of Lineage (Amendment) Bill, 2018 would also help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS to indigenous people especially women not to marry truck drivers and labourers from outside the state.

Shylla alleged that truck drivers and labourers from outside were the “main carriers” of HIV/AIDS.

Shylla wanted to impress that the Amendment Bill that seeks to deny Khasi status to women enter into wedlock with men outside the tribe would also help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS since Khasi women would be discouraged from marrying men outside the tribe including truck drivers and labouers from outside.

“HIV/AIDS infection is a threat that will put our small tribe at very serious risk of epidemic especially our youth. It is time we wake up as a society by extending help and sympathy to the victims,” he said.

Shylla said that the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) was contemplating to raise fund to help HIV/AIDS victims especially those belonging to poor families.

He called upon his fellow MDCs to create and generously donate to a fund to help such victims.

Shylla also quoted a report regarding the emergence of three North Eastern States including Meghalaya as the new HIV hot spots.

“The report was based on answers provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Parliament where the Health Ministry attributed the rise of incidence in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura to injecting drug users and unsafe sexual practices,” Shylla said.

Stating that such infection was never there before in Meghalaya, Shylla alleged that the infection had been brought from outside.

Shylla said that the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) through its Targeted Intervention Project has categorized the following as high rank groups with the highest risk of infection and spreading the HIV/AIDS infection which include injecting drug users, female sex workers with migrant labourers and truckers as the bridge population.

The source of the infection especially in Jaiñtia Hills can be traced to the ‘bridge population’ and as of today, Jaiñtia Hills has the highest number of infected persons.

The chief executive member further stated that the state of affairs can be judged from the directions of the Union Ministry of Health, the governor and project director of the Meghalaya AIDS Control Society (MACS) that screening and testing of pregnant mothers should be mandatory.

“This is alarming when 20 expectant mothers who will give birth between August end , and October this year are HIV positive,” he said.