Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) official on Wednesday stated that nearly 18,081 people in Mizoram since October 1990 till August this year has recorded the highest HIV prevalence.
Earlier on November 16 last year, the Mizoram assembly was informed that 14,632 HIV positive people were identified in the state.
“According to the India HIV Estimations 2017 Technical Report, Mizoram ranked first in the country at 2.04 per cent HIV positives detected from the number of people whose blood samples were tested,” the official said.
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The HIV Estimations 2017 report released by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) also stated that Mizoram was one of the five states where the number of new infection cases increased, though such cases are declining nationally.
The MSACS official further added that unsafe sex was the main cause of the spread of infection, followed by sharing of needles and syringes by drug users and sexual intercourse between partners.
“Over 42 per cent of the HIV positive people are in the age group of 25-34 years and 26 per cent falls in the 35-49 years age bracket”
Mizoram is followed by Manipur at 1.43 per cent and Nagaland at 1.15 per cent, the report reads. Further, according to the Estimations report, HIV incidence per 1,000 uninfected population in 2017 was also highest in Mizoram (1.32) followed by Nagaland (0.59) and Manipur (0.58).
Meanwhile, over 190 countries, including India, have pledged to end AIDS by 2030 by adopting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.