Dimapur, August 8 (MExN): Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have emerged as the new hotspots for HIV, The Hindu said in a report quoting Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In response to a question in the Lok Sabha on August 3, the Ministry attributed the reason for the rise in the incidence of HIV in the three North East States to the high-risk behaviour of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and unsafe sexual practices, according to the report. In four sites in Mizoram and one in Tripura, it said, HIV prevalence was higher among IDUs, which for the rest of the country is 6.3%. At Aizawl, Champhai and Kolasib, the prevalence of HIV in IDUs was 37.44%, 33.06% and 38.14% respectively. Meanwhile, HIV prevalence among female sex workers was higher at four sites — two in Tripura and one each in Mizoram and Meghalaya. At one site of Mizoram’s Aizawl district, the prevalence of HIV was as high as 24.68%, compared with 1.6% for other sites in the country, the report stated. In the case of pregnant women visiting ante-natal clinics (ANC), six centres in Mizoram, two in Meghalaya and one in Tripura recorded HIV prevalence of more than 1%, compared with HIV prevalence of 0.28% among pregnant women visiting ANCs in other places in India surveyed in December 2017, The Hindu further reported. It was also mentioned that HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) had referred that HIV prevalence in the context of ANCs in the northeastern States of Mizoram (1.19%), Nagaland (0.82%), Meghalaya (0.73%), Tripura (0.56%) and Manipur (0.47%) were among the highest. A biennial study conducted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), HSS is one of the largest regular studies in the world dealing with HIV in high risk groups of the population. The report quoted Samiran Panda, Director of the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) as saying that the discussion on HIV prevalence has to be taken to the districts. “We need prevention and intervention strategies for the most-at-risk population in these pockets, with good coverage.” In terms of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), Dr. Panda said that almost 12.28 lakh people are covered under ART. According to him, the target is to bring 90% of the 21 lakh people living with the HIV infection in India under ART. “Going by that target, we are still short of about 6 lakh patients. The challenge is to encourage more people to take the test and then provide them with ART,” he said.
