Only 7 districts in Andhra Pradesh have received top grades (A) for their interventions in the fight against AIDS in the performance rating for April 2002 to March 2003. Two districts got B grades, while 12 were graded C and two D. The grades are issued on the basis of the performance of blood banks, voluntary counseling and testing centers (VCTCs) and Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) clinics.

Overall, blood banks in the state had managed to achieve 91 per cent of their targets, while STD clinics met 74 per cent of their targets. As for the VCTCs, certain districts saw them exceed the targets by 22 per cent, an indicator of their growing popularity.

When it comes to the number of units of blood collected at the 172 blood banks in the state, districts such as Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Nellore, Nizamabad, Mehboobnagar, Rangareddy and Warangal exceeded the targets. However, the overall target achievement came down to 91 per cent due to the poor performances of Adilabad (44 per cent), Krishna (27 per cent), Medak (24 per cent), Nalgonda (57 per cent) and Guntur (49 per cent).

When it comes to VCTCs, they show a whopping rise in the number of people making use of their facilities. In Hyderabad, VCTCs exceeded their targets by more than three times the set target. Visakhapatnan achieved 169 per cent of the target. On the other hand Krishna district managed only 52 per cent of the target and Adilabad 44 per cent.

In the case of the number of people coming to STD clinics, Anantapur topped the list by exceeding its target by 71 per cent, Mehboobnagar and Karimnagar with 18 per cent were the poor performers in this category.