Panaji: Every ward and village in Goa has HIV/Aids cases, the state’s Health Minister Laxmikant Parsenkar told the Goa legislative assembly on Monday.
Speaking during Question Hour, Parsenkar said claims about 23 students whose admission to a South Goa school had created controversy in the wake of allegations that they were HIV-positive, were incorrect. He added: “In Goa, there is no village nor ward where there’s no HIV.”
The minister also stated that nearly one per cent of the state’s population of 1.5 million was HIV-positive but noted that the annual rate of infection was on a downward trend. “Last year it was 550 [patients], this year it will decrease further. We need preventive measures and awareness,” he said.
Parsenkar said the 23 students at a school in Rivona had been victimised by society because of the HIV/Aids stigma.
The Church-run school in Rivona, a mining village located over 50km from Panaji, found itself at the centre of a controversy last month after its Parents Teachers Association tried to first block the entry of 13 HIV-poitive students and 23 other students later who they suspected of having HIV.
The prolonged stand-off made national headlines. While the school’s Parents Teachers Association managed to ensure that the 13 HIV-positive students were forced out by the school management, they failed to block the 23 other students from securing admissions. In retaliation, over two dozen parents from the association opted to withdraw their wards from the school.
Parsenkar categorically stated that the 23 students in question did not have HIV. “In Rivona, the boys did not have HIV,” Parsenkar said, calling for increased awareness about the disease.
