Shillong, July 24: The Meghalaya government has decided to develop a comprehensive policy on a mission mode to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS across the state. The decision was taken during a meeting today chaired by Deputy Chief Minister incharge Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong and attended by Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh, and eight MLAs from East Khasi Hills district.
Ampareen Lyngdoh said the meeting resolved that the government must act in mission mode to address the growing HIV/AIDS crisis. The health department has been tasked with drafting a cabinet note to initiate a comprehensive state-level policy.
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The government plans to hold similar consultations in Garo Hills and Jaintia Hills and will engage bureaucrats and senior doctors to develop effective strategies. However, it will avoid releasing data on specific hotspots to prevent stigma against individual constituencies.
Highlighting the scale of the crisis, Lyngdoh said HIV/AIDS cases in East Khasi Hills have doubled to 3,432, but only 1,581 patients have come forward for treatment. A concerning 681 individuals have been lost to follow-up. While East Khasi Hills is facing a high number of cases, Jaintia Hills remains the most affected region.
Meghalaya currently ranks sixth in the country in terms of HIV/AIDS prevalence, with the northeast as a whole being significantly impacted.
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Lyngdoh suggested the need for state-specific laws, including the possibility of making HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage, as implemented in Goa. She said awareness is no longer the primary challenge, but testing and screening must be improved.
“There are certain laws in operation that don’t allow us to freely work on the testing and the screening but if the state of Goa has made HIV/AIDS testing compulsory before any couple marries why shouldn’t Meghalaya also have its own sets of laws, which are going to be good for the community at large,” she said, adding that MLAs have urged the government to act decisively.
The government will engage legal experts and the health department to examine the possibility of enacting legislation to make testing mandatory. Lyngdoh said Meghalaya is now ready to take strong action against the disease.
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She also raised concern over 159 deaths in the district due to loss of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) treatment and emphasized that HIV/AIDS, like cancer or TB, is treatable if patients remain within the health system.
Despite the rising numbers, she warned that more cases could exist undetected in communities. While injecting drug use is a major factor in some states, Meghalaya has not been able to properly identify this population due to gaps in testing.
(Newmai News Network)