SHILLONG, NOV 29: Twenty-five people have died of HIV/AIDS in Meghalaya from March 2012 to March 2013. The number of people dying of HIV/AIDS in the state has gradually increased over the year. In 2008, only one patient had died of the disease followed by four in 2009, eight in 2010 eight patients and between 2012-13 twenty people died of the disease.
From March to October this year the number of deaths reported stands at 17, also the highest during the same period in the past six years.
Meghalaya Aids Control Society (MACS) director F Kharkongor said in Meghalaya said the number of people living with HIV/AIDS virus now has increased many folds since 2007 when only 14 persons were tested positive.
He said 1163 persons are living with the virus and authorities believe that there could be more who are yet to come forward to test.
For a small state with a population of about three million people, the number is staggering and the trend is increasing every year with as many as 79 positive people have succumbed to the virus.
With the prevalence rate of 0.13 per cent according to the state’s population, Meghalaya is ranked below Assam whose prevalence rate is 0.07 who topped the table for the least number of positive people.
Manipur topped the table of the maximum number of people living with the disease as it prevalence rate of 1.22 is above the national average of 0.27 per cent population followed by Mizoram and Nagaland whose prevalence rate is 0.75 and 0.73 per cent respectively.
Kharkongor informed that only 527 positive persons have turned up for treatment at the three Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) centers set up in the state even as she expressed concerned at the low turnout of the patients at the designated hospitals.- By Our Reporter
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