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Former Mizoram Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai on the occasion of World AIDS Day said that an increased drug peddling along the Mizoram-Myanmar border has led to a high rate of HIV infections in the north eastern state of Mizoram. Pillai who is currently the Governor of Goa, during World AIDS Day further added that multiple sexual relations were not the main cause behind the spread of HIV/AIDS as much as frequent use of drugs.

Governor Pillai at a function in South Goa said, “I was the Governor in Mizoram, where people are good at heart and law abiding citizens, but at the same time, HIV rate is more, according to my information, at the first position in India. I had occasion to study in my own way about the HIV increasing tendency and I found that actually sex relations is not the main important root or cause behind it. Use of drugs and other things is the real villain in this peril.”

Pillai further added “You see, Mizoram is very near to the old state of Burma. There is free access between Mizoram and Myanmar. And then when I started my study, I found that (you can travel) without passport or anything 16 km either side, Indian side or the Myanmar side. People can go freely. Through that process, there is a dangerous situation existing there,” he said. “Drug peddling is very much increasing and that is the real cause behind the increase in HIV number in Aizwal and other parts of Mizoram. So that is why I am saying, instead of treating patients or trying to ward off HIV the most important thing is awareness among the youth.”