Tripura Government Issues Clarification On 'HIV Spike' Reports Among Students (Photo @Pixabay)
Issuing a re-joinder regarding some reports claiming that around 828 students from Tripura registered as HIV positive and 47 of them died, Tripura State AIDS Control Society (TSACS) today clarified that the figure was precisely from April 2007 to May 2024, representing a cumulative total of 17 years.
Claiming the reports misleading, the statement informed that the number of new HIV infections that the state detected during the year 2022-23 is 1847, with 67 deaths. During the year 2023-24, a total of 1790 fresh HIV cases were recorded while 44 succumbed to the deadly infection.
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The state AIDS control society noted that the National AIDS Control Programme has been implemented in Tripura since April 1999. As part of the plan designed by the National AIDS Control society, a total of 828 students registered over the last many years in the ART centre and all are all getting free Anti antiretroviral treatment.
Without being precise about the timeframe, several media outlets had reported that at least 47 students died from HIV in Tripura, while 828 tested HIV-positive, citing a senior official of TSACS.
The report also claimed that the recent data revealed a daily spike in HIV cases, with five to seven new cases of HIV being detected every day. The report had also said that the state AIDS control society has registered 8,729 people in the ART (Antiretroviral Therapy) centres till May 2024.
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The government’s clarification came after a senior official of Tripura State AIDS Control Society, reportedly said that they have so far registered 828 students who are HIV positive, and out of them, 572 students are still alive and we have lost 47 people due to the dreaded infection. “Many of the students have migrated out of Tripura for higher studies in coveted institutions across the country,” multiple reports cited a senior official as saying.
