Mysuru: Asha Kirana Charitable Trust, a non-profit organisation providing counselling services, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS since 1997, celebrated its 20th anniversary by dedicating a state-of-the-art Gene Xpert equipment at an event organised at a convention centre this morning. The Gene Xpert is a new test for tuberculosis (TB) that can diagnose if a person is infected and also if the TB bacterium is resistant to one of the common TB drugs - Rifampicin. The equipment was contributed from CSR grants of Kluber Lubrication India, Mysuru with support from CEPHEID India, New Delhi and the machine costs about Rs. 27 lakh. Earlier, the programme was inaugurated by dignitaries including Founder of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement Dr.R. Balasubramaniam, Deputy Director Generals of National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) Dr. R.S. Gupta and Dr. K.S. Sachdeva. President of AIDS Society of India Dr. I.S. Gilada, Patrons Suzan Baraz, Chair-Focus on AIDS, USA, Hossien Farmani, Co-Chair-Focus on AIDS, USA and Mehinder Sharma, Chairman of ANS Constructions, New Delhi were also present. Speaking about the journey of Asha Kirana from 1997 to 2017, Dr. S.N. Mothi, Chairman of the Trust, said that Asha Kirana Charitable Trust commenced its journey as a one room organisation in 1997 and has now come a long way with the continued support of patrons, donors, networking doctors and various organisations.
