50 undergrads found positive for HIV!
About 50 undergraduates have been infected with HIV in the first nine months of 2020, Dr. Rasanjali Hettiarachchi, Director of the National STD/AIDS Control Programme said.
The total number of HIV positive people detected this year is 342 including four school children and two Buddhist monks.
Dr. Hettiarachchi said the number of people infected with the virus has doubled compared to last year.
The first HIV positive case in the country was detected in 1987. Dr. Hettiarachchi said that about 20 members of clergy including monks and priests of other religions were among the infected people reported so far.
She said 4,404 infected people have been reported since 1987 out of which about 1,000 have died and about 2,300 people are seeking treatment. However, according to estimates, about 3,700 more infected people need to receive medical treatment.
She said about 1,500 HIV infected people are unaware that they have contracted the virus and many people who have unprotected sex with them can contract the virus.
Dr.Hettiarachchi said that such infections can be prevented by talking openly about sex related matters with children.
She also said that the parents and guardians should pay more attention to the youth.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, “Iron Man” organization’s owner Sam Chandrasoma said that he was also in the Yala National Park on the day of this incident but neither he nor his organization had anything to do with it.
He said that the company’s stickers are requested for the vehicles that have obtained services from his company, and that he cannot make a definite statement whether there were vehicles with those stickers inside the park.
Meanwhile, internal sources of the Wildlife Conservation Department told ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ that a powerful Cabinet Minister has informed the Director General of Wildlife Conservation to allow these jeeps to enter the National Park. The people who arrived in these jeeps have behaved in a way that causes distress to the animals.
It was reported that the authorities of the Wildlife Conservation Department had also learnt about this incident through social media a day after the incident.
It has been revealed that a group of members of the Wellawaya Motor Vehicle Association and the Nikaweratiya Poultry Farm Owners Association were among the perpetrators.
Wildlife Conservation Director General Chandana Suriyabandara said, “A group has gone inside the park and caused destruction. I informed the officials to file a case. These vehicles have been formally entered into the park but the issue is about their behavior inside the park. They have not entered the park by force.”
Mr. Nayanaka Ranwella, an environmentalist commenting on the incident, said that these perpetrators can be imprisoned for 7 years and imposed a fine of Rs.200,000 each.
onvenor Ranjan Jayalal said an amount of Rs.2.56 has been added as social security tax to the electricity bill from October 15.
Commenting further, he said the people are unaware of the addition of the social security tax. “This has been added to the bill and not shown separately. According to the information we have received, the IMF is proposing to increase tariffs by another 30%. The government is not keen on solving the issues of the people,” he said.