25 percent of indian soldiers have serious health issues: official survey

[Naveed Yaseen]

* 25 percent of all soldiers have serious ailments
* 400 men already claimed by AIDS

NEW DELHI: An official survey in India has found that at least 25 percent of paramilitary personnel are suffering from serious ailments like diabetes, hypertension, skin diseases and even HIV/AIDS. These personnel include troops from the Central Reserve Police Force, the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and others heavily deployed in Indian-held Kashmir and the North-Eastern states.

The survey conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs found that 122,700 out of 500,000 troops were affected by these ailments. “Health problems are on the rise and affecting the performance and morale of the forces,” the report said.

Morbid situation: The survey found that incidences of HIV/AIDS were growing with the forces having already lost 400 men to the disease. Experts are baffled by the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS among soldiers posted in peaceful areas, despite instances of forces contracting HIV when posted in war-torn areas. “We can’t understand as to why people who are allowed to stay with their families are getting infected,” they said. An official revealed the actual number of those infected could be more since the HIV test was optional.

The official said that though the government was distributing contraceptives as a measure to prevent the spread of AIDS, it could not officially promote its use. “If we ask them to use contraceptives, it would go down as an official order. It would then become difficult to control the men, who might look around for partners outside the base areas,” he said. iftikhar gilani

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_37