HIV/AIDS ails 98 BSF jawans
May 20, 2005
As many as 98 BSF jawans all over the country have been detected as being HIV-positive, BSF Director General RS Musahari said in Bikaner on Friday. This came to light during a routine health check-up of the jawans recently, Musahari told reporters. He said though this number was very minimal among the two lakh BSF jawans, all preventive steps had been initiated so that the number of cases does not rise. The BSF DG said the jawans would soon be equipped with more sophisticated weapons while alarm will be fixed on fences to prevent intrusion more effectively. Musahari said fencing has been completed all along the border in Rajasthan except at Barmer and eastern parts of the state.
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**AIDS awareness programme for BSF jawans **
By Our Special Correspondent
KOLKATA, MARCH 22. A two-year Rs. 2.70 lakh USD project aimed at reducing the spread and impact of HIV cases among Border Security Force personnel and their families in West Bengal will be launched by BSF authorities in New Delhi tomorrow. The project will subsequently bring under its purview jawans stationed in other parts of the country. Similar programmes are expected to be taken up for other para-military forces. Anecdotal'' evidence suggests a fairly high’’ incidence of sexually-transmitted diseases among BSF jawans in West Bengal. There are 22 cases of AIDS, which have been reported from various battalions in the State, according to a BSF Frontier Hospital medical officer in South Bengal.