Political and Social Issues

With the results of the Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) Wave XIII showing overall progress in terms of awareness on HIV/AIDS, the concerns that have to be addressed include eradicating misconceptions, and increasing condom usage among regular partners.
Presenting a set of recommendations at a function to disseminate the results of the BSS, conducted by AIDS Prevention and Control Project (APAC), VHS, it was stressed that utilisation of counselling services needs to be strengthened.
- Also, it indicated that the changing pattern of sex work might have left a lot of female sex workers unreached. Consequently, new strategies should be evolved to reach out to them and bring them into awareness and intervention services circle.
- While intervention programmes exist for truckers and migrant workers already, a renewed focus is the need of the hour, and programme strategies to specifically address stigma and discrimination are vital. High risk behaviour continues to be associated with poverty and low literacy levels

The 978 panchayats in the Kerala State will be empowered in road safety to enable local self-government institutions, people, and various organisations to come together to bring down the number of road accidents and injuries, and promote safety and well-being of the people.
The ‘Safe Community Programme for Panchayats' has been chalked out by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) close on the heels of adopting the zero-accident policy to eliminate accidents by 2020 as part of observing 2010-20 as Road Safety Decade.
Of the 1.74 lakh km of road network in the State, as much as 1.22 lakh km is under the panchayats. These roads are mostly unsurfaced and need substantial improvements in geometric conditions such as curves and blind spots. Traffic on these roads has increased substantially and consequently, the accident rate has gone up.