Punjab: Decline in HIV+ cases in the last nine years
Punjab: Decline in HIV cases in the last nine years
Punjab has witnessed a decline in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive cases over the past nine years. HIV is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, if not treated.
In 2017, the HIV rate was recorded at 0.66% with 6,730 cases of the total 10.12 lakh people tested, while it was 2.96% in 2008 as 4,954 people tested positive out of 1.67 lakh tested.
“Due to awareness, the HIV positive percentage has witnessed a steep fall since 2008 till July 2018,” said BP Nivasan, project director, Punjab AIDS Control Society.
Punjab has recorded 66,590 HIV positive cases since 1993 when the Punjab State AIDS Control Society was set up.
In 2009, at least 5,351 HIV cases were reported with 2.34% positivity rate, 1.96 % in 2010 with 5,433 cases; 1.55% in 2011 with 5,387 cases, 1.13% in 2012 with 4,863 cases and 0.90% in 2013 with 4,537 cases, according to the AIDS control society data.
A total of 5,385 cases were detected with 0.89% positivity rate in 2014, 5,543 cases in 2015 with 0.84% positivity rate and 5,987 in 2016 with 0.69% rate.
-PTC News
