the New Indian Express, 28 July 2014

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society is launching Deepika Smart Card for HIV/AIDS patients, APSACS joint director (basic services) JC Reddy has said.

The Smart Card includes five aspects: addiction to smoking, drugs, etc; suspicion of tuberculosis; marital status, travel for long distances; any reproductive tract infections; sexually transmitted infections.

Designed as a self-evaluating system, people can fill the smart card, evaluate the grades and determine on their own if they are prone to HIV/AIDS. "As grades increase, vulnerability increases," Reddy says.

About the objective of the Smart Card, he says that it only helps people in determining chances of getting HIV and acts as a tool to caution them about the lifestyle being practised.

"If a male aged around 30 years is a student, unmarried, addicted to alcohol and has some RTI, then he is at greater risk of getting HIV."

About the rationale behind inclusion of the aforementioned aspects, Reddy says that people who travel a lot, like truckers, are at greater risk of getting AIDS. "Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) primarily affect reproductive parts. So RTI is taken into consideration," he says, clarifying that not all RTIs are the result of STDs. Vulnerability increases if someone is addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Often, having multiple sexual partners is cited as one of the prime reasons for AIDS. On its non-inclusion in the card, Reddy mentions two reasons. "If somebody has multiple partners, they are at a higher risk of getting AIDS. The prime objective of the smart card is to caution in advance about getting AIDS and help people evaluate the chances without any hesitation," he explains.

He says that the smart card was tested in Vijayawada as a pilot project and the results were found encouraging. "Most of the people who scored high grades have AIDS," he says, adding that plans are afoot to upload the smart card online.

By K Shiva Shanker | ENS

Source: the New Indian Express