Varanasi to get two "One Stop Centers" to test multiple diseases

Varanasi. To enable simultaneous testing for multiple diseases, the Uttar Pradesh government will open "one-stop centres" in five cities on December 1 on the occasion of World AIDS Day. Tests for HIV, TB, and other non-communicable diseases will be available at the centres. There will be two centres each in Kanpur and Varanasi, and only centre each in Moradabad, GB Nagar, and Meerut.

These centres will also offer a counselling facility for mental health, according to Heera Lal, additional project director for the UP AIDS control society.

At present, the one stop centres are running in 25 states.

Special attention will be paid to transgender people and injectable drug users at the Varanasi centre, whereas, transgenders and migrant workers will be the focus of the Kanpur centre.

Patients will be screened at the centres based on tests and symptoms by doctors and ANMs.

According to Ramesh Srivastava, joint director of the UP AIDS Control Society, centres will help health programmes reach the most vulnerable communities.