World AIDS Day 2017: HIV has taught us how to improve our health systems, says expert

New Delhi: HIV had taught us how to improve our health systems and this knowledge could be used to counter other diseases too, professor of medicine at the AIIMS Naveet Wig said on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_4236479” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Speaking at an interactive session in New Delhi on the eve of World AIDS Day, Wig said, “There is a need to integrate all the healthcare programmes, so that our resources are used in an efficient manner.” The event was conducted by the American Center, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the US Agency for International Development, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Wig advised the people to get themselves tested for HIV. “The earlier, the better. There is a need for the people to realise this,” he said. Chinmay Modi, who is fighting AIDS since he was nine years of age, said the stigma surrounding the disease made life even more difficult for those affected by it. “There is a section of the society which accepts you and there is also another section which does not let you live freely. But, one should make public one’s status and say proudly that yes, I am living a healthy lifestyle,” he said. On the occasion, scientist Huma Qureshi said sooner or later, the world would have a vaccine for HIV.