Nagaland ranks third in HIV prevalence in India with 50% of the infected people from Dimapur district. Most of the HIV positive people in the state are in the age group of 15 to 35 years. The Dimapur district in Nagaland has recorded a total of 938 HIV positive cases during the period from April 2019 to January 2020. Altogether 881 in the general category were found to be positive out of the 12,512 persons tested for HIV in Dimapur district during the period.

On this backdrop, a common guest lecture and voluntary testing of HIV & AIDS was conducted at Don Bosco Tech Society (Assisi, Dimapur) on March 5, 2020, by mobile Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC), District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit, Dimapur District Hospital. It is to weed out the pandemic otherwise could have a disastrous impact on society.

Ms. Tedipeni (Counsellor, District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit, Dimapur) was the resource person who shared the trainees on the below-given points:
•    What is HIV?
•    What is AIDS?
•    Modes/Routes of HIV transmission.
•    How to prevent HIV & AIDS?
•    Where to avail care and treatment?

Ms. Tedipeni advised the trainees to live a person responsible for one's own life, keep checked risky behaviors. She said, “There is no cure at the moment for HIV& AIDS. So you must not involve in activities like sharing needles, having multiple sexual partners, and even accepting unscreened blood donation in times of blood transfusion as HIV & AIDS spreads through blood, infected mother to child and body fluids.” She added, “Do not stigmatize people infected with HIV/AIDS. Instead, be kind. Support them, if possible, to get good care and support in any of the care centers, available in any district hospitals across the states.”

After the input session, Ms. Tedipeni and her team conducted a round of voluntary random testing for the trainees. The voluntary, random testing was carried out to be sure of their status and helped them to be cautious in life.