The prevailing situation of HIV/AIDS is deep rooted in this world. The impact of this pandemic disease makes turmoil in the economic, social, cultural and political spheres of the world community. Every public authority runs around hue and cry to control this disease at any cost. It may be mentioned that the government of Manipur has been adopted a state policy on AIDS in the year 1991 as one of the pioneering state in India. However, all the programmes for supporting the PLWHs are mainly focus with adult persons. On other hand, there are many children affected by HIV/AIDS in the state which is needed to be called for attention by the authorities concerned. According to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the child (CRC), the best interest of the children should be given priority in any state policy and legislation etc. In this regard, the Francois Xavier Bagnout (FXB) International has been working for supporting and empowering the most vulnerable children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS as well as those at risk of contracting the virus.

The FXB International is named after the death of Francois Xavier Bagnout, a young helicopter rescue pilot who died at the age of 24 years during a mission at Mali in West Africa.The death of her only son proved to be the turning point in the life of his mother-Countless Alvina Du Boisrouvray, a well known well journalist and filmmaker. Selling three quarters of her personal assets including her film producing company, she established the Foundation FXB International in 1989.Today the NGO FXB International runs 87 programmes across 18 countries including India working in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Program of the regions. Now, the FXB India Suraksha, Manipur Branch is also working with the 100 families identified as BXB village at Singjamei, Imphal which is providing Nutrition, Education, Health & psychological and income generating activities supports with care giver and children affected by the disease.

World AIDS Orphans Day is being observed on 7th May every year. This event was a Francios Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) international's initiative. To bring the plight of millions of hapless children world wide who have lost one or both parents to AIDS, to the notice of all and to mobilize attention of government and communities, FXB and its founder Countess Albina Du Boisrouvray launched a global movement in year 2002 to observe 7th May as world AIDS Orphans' Day. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General had offered his personal support to this campaign. Since then the celebration of 7th May as World AIDS Orphan Day has gained support from various countries prominent leaders and communities. Providing care to AIDS orphans and vulnerable children as a part of their inherent right has been a key message emphasized by this movement all over the world

The theme of this year World AIDS Orphans' Day is "i am POSITIVE". The theme is a multilayered perspective from various stakeholders involved in -rearing a security net for children affected by AIDS. These stakeholders do not work in isolation. Their work is intricately connected with the immediate surroundings of the children and with the larger community in which they function. The theme can be viewed from the perspective of the affected child in the literal sense of being HIV Positive and from the perspective of the social worker who is positively sure of making a difference in the child's life. Another interpretation, which forms the core philosophy behind the event, is the vision to raise consciousness among the larger community to make them concerned for the AIDS orphans and thereby compassionate enough to contribute to their well-being. It's an effort at making YOU says, "I am POSITIVE that I can stop all discrimination, ill-treatment and exploitation of children affected by AIDS from my sphere of influence."

For the first time in the history of HIV and AIDS care in Manipur, the organizations working on Drugs and AIDS care have joined hands to observe this international event and pledge to lobby the policy makers to amend and enforce the state policy on protection of rights of orphans and vulnerable children who are infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

* WAOD was initiated in 2002 by Albina du Boisrouvray, President &. Founder of FXB, to bring attention to the millions of children affected by AIDS.

* Every May 7, FXB organizes a grassroots campaign to bring attention to the plight of children affected by AIDS and advocate on their behalf.

* WAOD supporters lobby their home governments to direct at least 10% of all HIV and AIDS funding to support orphans and children made vulnerable by the pandemic.

Thus the contribution and efforts of FXB shall be welcome as a historic and significant event of the world in the area of sufferings and problems of the children affected by HIV/AIDS. Everybody should remember that there are certain human beings who needed to be cared and supported. Otherwise our future may be in the darkness.

A new test of breast cancer survival based on counting tumour cells should become a standard part of treatment, it has been claimed.

Predicting a woman's chances of staying alive could help doctors decide when to change or discontinue therapy, according to a US expert.

Scientists led by Dr Antonio Giordano, from the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, showed how numbers of tumour cells in the blood were linked to survival in women with advanced breast cancer.

Using a sophisticated "neural network" computer programme, they analysed 516 breast cancer patients with metastatic, or spreading, disease.

The findings were presented at the IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels on Thursday.

Dr Giordano said: "We found that there was a linear relationship between the number of circulating tumour cells and the risk of death in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Most importantly, the risk of death after one year for patients with 40 circulating tumour cells in 7.5 millilitres (ml) of blood was about twice that for patients with none."

Counting circulating tumour cells should now be considered a standard test for women with advanced breast cancer, he added.

"While the treatment of this condition remains palliative, monitoring of circulating tumour cells can help determine when to modify regimens or discontinue therapy; in other words, this can improve the delivery of personalised therapy," said Dr Giordano.

Other research presented at the same meeting showed that sub-types of breast cancer can be identified using only three genes.

Breast cancer comes in a variety of forms which progress in different ways and respond to treatments differently. Knowing which type a patient has can help doctors deliver the right treatment.

Contrary to the claims earlier made by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), the number of HIV positive cases in Kashmir valley is on decrease.


"The epidemic (AIDS) here is under control and Kashmir is the least hit area in the country," Director Health Services and Project Director J&K State AIDS Prevention Control Society (JKSAPCS), Dr M A Wani told Rising Kashmir.

He asserted that last time prevalence of the epidemic in the valley was 1.2 per cent which has come down to 0.3 per cent at present.

"Last time we collected 7800 samples from various quarters of the state and none was found positive," Wani informed.

Few months back NACO experts had warned of impending AIDS epidemic in the State if the killer virus goes unchecked. It was also speculated that 40,000 people would be infected with HIV in next two years. NACO had also predicted that the disease would kill 20,000 people in the State by the end of 2015.

However, Directorate of Health Services Kashmir claims that the situation is altogether different.

According to the official statistics, of the 4846 HIV test samples taken in the year 2008, only three persons were found positive, and in 2009, 4840 samples were taken and none was found positive.

Since 1997, when anti-retro viral treatment was launched in SKIMS Srinagar, 193 patients had tested positive for HIV virus. Most of the HIV infected people are in the age group of 15-45, with 65 per cent of them urban males.

"Though a small number of HIV positive patients are there, but it is not a big number as compared to 2.5 million HIV positive patients found in India," the Director said.

Asked whether Jammu and Kashmir would be AIDS-free society, Wani said, "J&K is a tourism state and it is not possible to keep eye on all activities here which are responsible for this dreadful infection."

However, some concerned health officials at SMHS Hospital fear that presence of large number of troops, thousands of migrant laborers, heavy tourist influx in recent years and concentration of truckers has broken the state's envied status.

They said that over the years, majority of cases detected in SKIMS and other hospitals were from India's paramilitary Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Pertinently, off late army has been organizing workshops on HIV/AIDS for its men and their families.

Moreover, there are only seven hospitals- five in Srinagar and two in Jammu- having the facility for blood testing for HIV. This leaves the villages, where majority of the population resides, at the peril of the dreaded disease.

Researchers conducted three studies to determine genetic variations causing smoking behavior in people, as to how much they smoked and their ability to quit.

For the study, they analyzed DNA profiles of over 140,000 smokers and non-smokers from Europe.

Data was based on a 2008-report connecting a specific region of the human genome--set of 23 chromosomes--to smoking behavior.

One study conducted by University of North Carolina researchers revealed that a single-letter mutation called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA code of chromosome 11 was linked to beginning of six percent of smoking behavior.

The mutation on chromosome 9 was associated with 12 percent of quitting behavior, according to researchers.

Second study conducted by scientists at deCODE Genetics found that avid smokers carried certain gene-variants on chromosome eight and 19.

They were the ones puffing about half an extra cigarette per day and at 10 percent higher risk of lung-cancer [abnormal cells that divide without control, which can invade nearby tissues or spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body. ] , stated researchers.

The third study by Oxford University was based on discovery made two years earlier by deCODE scientists.

This study confirmed that a gene-variant on chromosome 15 caused nicotine addiction and escalated lung cancer-risk.

Conclusions of the study
Reuters cited Dr. Helena Furberg, University of North Carolina as saying, "This lends support to the idea that smoking is not just a question of will power alone, but that genetics plays a role in how much a person smokes and their ability to quit smoking."

"Our research shows that there is a genetic predisposition to become addicted to nicotine," Stefansson told Reuters.

Stefansson also mentioned that smoking results in nine of 10 lung-cancer cases, however, only a few smokers actually develop the disease.

"Further evidence, that a person's genetic makeup is a factor," added Stefansson.