Odisha government to appoint Ombudsman in five zones to monitor spread of HIV; set to notify state-specific rules
BHUBANESWAR: Eight years after the Central Act mandated state-specific rules and appointment of Ombudsman to control the spread of HIV and address grievances of patients, the Odisha government has finally decided to appoint Ombudsman in five zones and notify the rules.
As per the decision taken at a high-level meeting recently, the special secretary (medical services) of Health and Family Welfare department will be the Ombudsman to monitor and oversee the activities at the state-level while chief district medical and public health officers (CDM&PHOs) of Balasore, Ganjam, Koraput, Sambalpur and Khurda will function as zonal ombudsmen.
During discussions, though representatives from Utkal Sevak Samaj, Karnataka Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (KNP+) and South 24 PG Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (SNP+) sought inclusion of civil society and people living with HIV community members for the appointment of Ombudsman, source said, their demands were struck down.
Elucidating clarity on the appointment of Ombudsman, project director of Odisha State AIDS Control Society (OSACS) Dr Santosh Swain said there are certain provisions in the Central Act regarding the qualification and experience of the Ombudsman and the appointments will be made accordingly.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
7 hours ago
- News18
Can This Covid Vaccine Technology Also 'Kick And Kill' HIV?
Last Updated: A team of Australian scientists has developed a novel method to reveal hidden HIV in white blood cells Scientists at Australia's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne have developed a groundbreaking method to 'wake up" hidden HIV within the human body, a crucial step that could enable their complete removal. And they have used mRNA technology, the same kind used in Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines. Nearly 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide. One of the main challenges in curing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) lies in its ability to establish latent reservoirs. These are small numbers of infected cells, primarily resting CD4+ T cells, where the virus integrates its genome but remains dormant and invisible to both the immune system and antiretroviral therapies (ART). While ART can suppress the virus to undetectable levels, it cannot eliminate these hidden reservoirs. If treatment stops, the virus can re-emerge and replicate, necessitating lifelong medication for people living with HIV. The Australian team discovered a novel way to deliver 'special instructions" to these hidden, latently infected cells. In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers demonstrated how they packaged mRNA inside novel, microscopic fat-like bubbles called lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), specifically a new design termed 'LNP X". The key breakthrough was engineering these LNPs to successfully transport the mRNA into the previously hard-to-reach resting CD4+ T cells. Once delivered, the mRNA instructs these cells to 'give up" the dormant virus, forcing it out of hiding and making it visible. This strategy aligns with the long-sought 'kick and kill" approach to HIV cure, where latency-reversing agents 'shock" the virus out of its dormant state, allowing the body's immune system or other therapies to 'kill" the newly exposed infected cells. Dr Paula Cevaal, a research fellow at the Doherty Institute and co-first author, described the initial results as astonishing, requiring repeated experiments to confirm their accuracy. 'We were overwhelmed by how big the difference was," she noted, emphasising the unprecedented success in revealing the hidden virus. While the research is currently laboratory-based and conducted on cells donated by HIV patients, this innovative method represents a significant step forward. The next crucial phase involves preclinical testing in animal models, followed by human trials to assess safety and efficacy. First Published: June 07, 2025, 04:36 IST
Time of India
16 hours ago
- Time of India
Contraceptives for poorest countries stuck in warehouses after US aid cuts
London: Contraceptives that could help prevent millions of unwanted pregnancies in some of the world's poorest countries are stuck in warehouses because of U.S. aid cuts and could be destroyed, two aid industry sources and one former government official said. The stock, held in Belgium and Dubai, includes condoms , contraceptive implants, pills and intrauterine devices, together worth around $11 million, the sources told Reuters. It has been stalled since the Trump administration started cutting foreign aid as part of its "America First" policy in February, as the U.S. government no longer wants to donate the contraceptives or pay the costs for delivery, they said. The U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID ) has instead asked the contractor managing its health supply chain, Chemonics, to try to sell it, two of the sources said. An internal USAID memo, sent in April, said a quantity of contraceptives was being kept in warehouses and they should be "immediately transferred to another entity to prevent waste or additional costs". A senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters no decision had been made about the future of the contraceptives. They did not respond to questions about the reasons why the contraceptives were in storage or the impact of the U.S. aid cuts and delays. A spokesperson for Chemonics said they were unable to comment on USAID's plans, but added that the company is working with clients to deliver life-saving aid globally and would continue to support the U.S. government's global health supply chain priorities. The stock represents just under 20% of the supply of contraceptives bought annually by the U.S. for donation overseas, a former USAID official told Reuters. Selling or donating the contraceptives has been challenging, according to the former USAID official, although talks are ongoing. Another option on the table is destroying it, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. As time goes on, shelf-lives will also become an issue, one of the sources said. The sources told Reuters that one of the key delays is a lack of response from the U.S. government about what should be done with the stock. It had been destined largely for vulnerable women in sub-Saharan Africa , including young girls who face higher health risks from early pregnancy as well as those fleeing conflict or who otherwise could not afford or access the contraceptives, the sources added. The condoms also help stop the spread of HIV, the former USAID official said. "We cannot dwell on an issue for too long; when urgency and clarity don't align, we have to move on," said Karen Hong, chief of UNFPA's supply chain. She said the agency is now working on Plan B to help fill critical supply gaps.
India Today
17 hours ago
- India Today
Scientists find technology used in Covid vaccine to cure HIV
In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers in Australia may have found a new way to bring the world one step closer to curing at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne have developed a method to "wake up" hidden HIV viruses inside the human body, potentially allowing them to be removed ability for the HIV virus to conceal itself inside some white blood cells has been one of the main challenges for scientists looking for a cure. This also makes it nearly impossible for the immune system or even strong medicines to detect and destroy it But now, in their quest to find the best treatment, they have found a way to get the virus out of the their hidden form of HIV is known as a "reservoir." While today's medicines can control the virus, they cannot remove it. People with HIV still need lifelong treatment to stay healthy and prevent spreading the researchers have now used mRNA technology, the same kind used in Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines, to deliver special instructions to these hidden instructions make the virus come out of hiding, so it can potentially be eliminated from the problem before was that the white blood cells hiding HIV didn't accept the fat bubbles, or lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), that carry the the Melbourne team designed a new version of these fat bubbles called LNP X, which successfully entered the tricky white blood cells and delivered the Paula Cevaal, one of the lead researchers, said the early results were so surprising that the team repeated the experiments many times to confirm what they were seeing. "We were overwhelmed by how big the difference was," she told The research, published in Nature Communications, is still in the early stages and was done using cells donated by HIV patients in the steps would involve testing the method in animals, followed by human trials to check if the treatment is safe and truly team believes this could be a major moment in the fight against HIV, and possibly even helpful in treating other diseases like certain Reel
