With the aim to facilitate tests for multiple diseases at one place, the Uttar Pradesh government will launch 'one stop centres' in five cities on World AIDS Day on Thursday.
These centres will provide tests for HIV, TB and other non-communicable diseases. Kanpur and Varanasi will have two centres each while Moradabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Meerut will have one centre each.
Additional Project Director of UP AIDS Control Society, Heera Lal, said that these centres would also provide counseling facilities on mental health.
At present, the one stop centres are running in 25 states.
The centre in Kanpur will also focus upon transgenders and migrant workers while in Varanasi, special focus will be towards injectable drug users and transgenders.
"One stop centres will educate people and help in removing social stigma. With counseling, the myths will also be removed," said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.
The centres will have a doctor and Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM) to screen patients on the basis of symptoms and tests.
UP AIDS Control Society Joint Director Ramesh Srivastava said that centres would help reach health programmes to the sensitive community that needs them the most.
