The Regional Office of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)  provided technical assistance to the workshop which was  held at the Kripa Foundation Substance Abuse Counselling and Treatment Centre at Zoo Narangi Road, Hatigarh Chariali, Guwahati.
Mr. Sudipto Chowdhury Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Airtel Ltd. NESA said “Ignorance is the main hurdle to finding effective solutions to any social threat. The Helplines will provide information, tele-counselling, linkages and referrals and also assist in crisis interventions. As a socially conscious corporate, this is a step towards aiding the distressed and affected youth of North East to steer them back in the mainstream society.”
Mr Rabiul Islam, Project Director, Kripa Foundation Assam said, “These Helplines are particularly relevant to Substance Abuse and HIV / AIDS both of which are hidden menaces as these illnesses cause stigma and associated discrimination. Both these threats have spread throughout the Northeast region since the last 2 decades and in certain areas have assumed epidemic forms. I thank Airtel in taking the 1st step as a corporate to support this initiative and we hope to be aware and change more lives through these helplines.”
Kripa has centres in 12 states of the country and in this region they are located in Kohima, Imphal, Shillong and Guwahati. These Centres will maintain Log books and documentation of the Helplines will also be useful for research.
The Helplines are to be launched in a phased manner in the four states beginning with Assam and are sponsored by Bharti Airtel Limited as part of their corporate social responsibility mandate.