U'khand: 870 HIV+ cases, 30-40 detected each month

Dehradun, May 23: A total of 870 HIV positive cases have been detected in Uttarakhand till March this year since the state's creation in 2000, a senior health official today said.

''Every month, 30 to 40 new cases are being detected,'' Additional Project Director of Uttarakhand State AIDS Control Committee Dr A P Mamgain said.

Talking to sources on the sideline of AIDS Awareness Workshop, organised by the state Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department, he said that out of 870 HIV positive cases, including 350 women, 39 had developed AIDS and out of these, 25 had so far succumbed to their injuries.

''Though HIV prevalence in the state is only 0.5 per cent, the vulnerability was much more,'' he said, adding the main reason was that the affected caught the disease in metropolitan cities where they went to serach for jobs. ''They get infected during their stay following unsafe sex, bring it to their hometown and pass it to their wives'', he said, adding that 30 per cent of the cases were due to such kind of transmission. Every month, approximately 30 to 40 new cases were coming to light, which could be even more, he said.

Earlier delivering his lecture, Dr Mamgain said that 23 cases were detected in year 2003, 83 more in the next year, 131 more new cases came to light in 2004 and 229 more in 2005. The last year saw 313 more cases. ''This year, so far 91 HIV positive cases have been found,'' he said.

Talking on the initiatives being taken in the state, he said that so far 22 Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centres have been set up in different parts of the state. Besides, nine Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) clinics have come up and 400 Condom Vending Machines been placed at different places.

On the national scenario, Dr Mamgain said that presently 53 lakh HIV positive patients had been detected since the first HIV case was detected in 1986. ''Of all, 85 per cent cases caught the infection through the sexual route including unsafe sex with prostitutes and homosexual relationship with HIV infected,'' he noted.

UNI