Indraprastha Apollo Hospital Marks World AIDS Day With Symposium, Quiz, Small Play, Story and Discussions

NEW DELHI, December 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Indraprastha Apollo Hospital marks World AIDS Day on December 1 to raise awareness about a disease that affects millions of people. This year on World AIDS Day, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital organisned Interactive symposium of doctors, nurses, paramedics and lab technicians plus other health care providers on the very important issue of prevention of transmission of HIV to Health Care Providers (HCP's) that highlighted the need to build on progress in combating the epidemic, capitalising on falling rates of HIV infections and numbers of AIDS-related deaths.

In health care settings, there is a fear of getting infected by handling HIV patients so many HCP have been avoiding getting involved in management of these patients. Secondly, those who are managing patients are not aware of the precautions to be taken and if accidentally injured by needle stick or sharp injury or breached skin or mucosa exposure, they do not know how to avoid getting infected. The risk of transmission of infection is about 0.3% per injury during needle stick injury and 0.09% during breached skin and mucosa exposure. There is no risk of transmission on exposure over intact skin.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Nalin Nag said, "Routine handling HIV patients has no risk of transmission of infection. However, if any invasive procedure or surgery is required, use of gloves, masks, goggles, aprons and other protective gears are required. It is important to take these universal precautions in all patients even while giving injections or drawing blood for testing."

All these were discussed by a quiz, small play, story by a professional who got needle stick injury and discussions of guidelines for PEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) and PPTCT (Prevention of parent to child transmissions) by Dr. Nalin Nag, Senior Consultant in Internal Medicine, Allergy and Immunology including HIV medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi.

HIV infections can be prevented by giving anti-retroviral medicines for 28 days to those who get accidentally exposed. This is called post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) Transmission of HIV from infected mother to child can also be reduced from 40% to less than 2% by giving Anti-retroviral medicines (ART) to HIV-infected pregnant women and to newly born child for six weeks and avoiding breast feeding if top feeds options are handy.

Indraprastha Apollo Hospital is contributing to these efforts with work on display of HIV/AIDS related projects that focus on increasing access to prevention, treatment, care, and support for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The hospital is committed to working toward the goal of a world with no new HIV infections, no discrimination, and no AIDS-related deaths.

About Apollo Hospitals:

In 1983, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, the architect of Indian healthcare, launched the first corporate hospital in India, Apollo Hospitals Chennai. Over the years, Apollo Hospitals Group has grown to become one of Asia's largest integrated healthcare organisations with over 8,500 beds across 50 hospitals, more than 1350 pharmacies and over 100 diagnostic clinics. The Group also offers medical business process outsourcing services, health insurance services and clinical research divisions with a focus on epidemiological studies, stem cell research and genetic research. To develop talent for the burgeoning need of superior healthcare delivery, Apollo Hospitals Group has 11 nursing and hospital management colleges. These achievements have earned Apollo Hospitals Group several accolades, including the Centre of Excellence from the Government of India and recognition from the Joint Commission International (seven of our hospitals are JCI accredited). In a rare honour, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo's contribution, the first for a healthcare organization. Apollo Hospitals Chairman, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, in 2010. Apollo Hospitals Group, for over 28 years, has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting-edge technology. Our hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals globally for advanced medical services and research. For more information, visit www.apollohospitals.com.

Primary Media Contact: Kusum Sahijpal, kusum_s@apollohospitals.com, 91-9999973090

Secondary Media Contact: Parul Chabbra, parul_c@apollohospitals.com, 91-9810588410