Assam and Tripura are among the North Eastern states that recorded the highest rate of annual increase in HIV cases, according to the Assam States Aid Control Society (ASACS).
Assam has registered a rate of increase from 0.04 per cent in 2007 to 0.07 per cent in 2011 with the number of cases increasing from 1,219 to 2,408 during the same period, ASACS Project Director Dhiraj Choudhury told reporters here today on the eve of World AIDS Day tomorrow.
In Tripura, the number of cases have increased from 567 cases in 2007 to 951 in 2011.
Assam, however, is categorized as a low HIV Prevalence state with an adult HIV prevalence of 0.07 per cent while Manipur has the highest estimated adult HIV Prevalence in the country at 1.22 per cent in 2011.
Recent statistics reveal that the high prevalence states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland have shown a declining trend in HIV prevalence, whereas new infections are increasing in some of the low prevalence states like Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, Choudhury said.
According to the NACO Technical Report, 2012, Assam had an estimated 12,804 people living with HIV (PLHA) in 2011.
ASACS State Epidemiologist Dr Chiranjeev Bhattacharjya said that Assam is a highly vulnerable state for HIV transmission due to several reasons, including the fact that it is the gateway to the North East and surrounded by three high prevalence states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.
Besides, there is also a large number of young population from the state going to large cities for employment and getting involved in high-risk behaviour, Bhattacharjya said.
Assam has a large private health sector which caters to
all the North Eastern states which also attributes to the high prevalence recorded, Bhattacharjya said.
Large number of female migrants from other North Eastern states and countries like West Bengal and Nepal also come to Assam for employment and education and get involved in risk behaviour leading to HIV transmission, Bhattacharjya added.
Evidence shows that the HIV epidemic in the state is concentrated among the high risk group population of Injecting Drug Users (IDU) at 1.46 per cent, men having sex with men (MSM) at 1.40 per cent and female sex workers (FSW) at 0.46 per cent while prevalence among the ante natal clinic (ANC) attendees is low at 0.18 per cent, he pointed out.
There is, however, no migrant or trucker HIV sentinel site in Assam and as such there is no available date on the bridge population and its possible role in the spread of infection from the high risk groups to the general population.
Data from recent rounds of HIV Sentinel Surveillance among the Ante-natal clinic attendees have shown a rising trend in HIV prevalence, particularly in the districts of Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong and Karimganj while two districts of Cachar and Sonitpur have recorded more than one per cent HIV prevalence, Bhattcharjya added.
Analysis of the district level data shows that till September, 2015 about 38 per cent of the HIV positive cases were detected in Kamrup (Metro) followed by Cachar, Dibrugarh and Nagaon districts.
