HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, Dec 2: The LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health (LGBRIMH) organized a one-day conference
/ symposium on the occasion of World AIDS Day on the theme “HIV in Substance Users: Remember the
link and commit to prevention.
H. Dutta, head of the department of addiction medicine and deputy director of LGBRIMH welcomed all
the resource persons and dignitaries who attended the programme in online and offline modes. Karuna
Hazarika, principal cum chief superintendent of the Tezpur Medical College and and Atul Ambekar a
professor of NDDTC of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi delivered their lectures as
special guests during the function held on Friday.
Atul Ambekar said that the vulnerability to HIV in Northeast India is more among the persons who take
drugs especially through injection. He also highlighted the present scenario of the North East Region
regarding prevention of AIDS.
Karuna Hazarika in his address raised the issues of stigma and social behavior towards the patients
suffering from HIV AIDS. S. K. Deuri, directorof LGBRIMH mentioned the role of the community in the
prevention and management of HIV AIDS as per the theme of WHO “Let communities lead”.
J. Hazarika, LGBRIMH superintendent spoke about the trends of HIV AIDS in the state in the last three
years and also mentioned about the requirement of counseling among the HIV AIDS affected patients
and issues related to it.
Technical sessions on the topic ‘WHO perspective on substance use and HIV’ was also held where Atreyi
Ganguli, national professional officer, WHO Country Office India, participated as the resource person.
In the second technical session, Himashri Bhattacharyya, associate professor of the department of
community and family medicine, AIIMS, Guwahati, spoke on the topic ‘HIV and Substance Use Disorder,
the Epidemiological Link’.
In the third session, Vikramjeet Dutta, associate professor of the department of microbiology of the
Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital spoke on the topic was ‘HIV screening-
overview of serological testing’.
Commitment to manage HIV in the population in substance use disorder was the topic of the fourth
session, and the resource person was Ravindra V. Rao, professor of NDDTC of AIIMS, New Delhi. In the
fifth session, Birinchi Borah, Sonitpur additional superintendent of police spoke on the legal aspect of
illicit drug use in the society.
An open quiz was also conducted among the participants of the programme on the occasion.
