| JK UT has 5500 HIV-positive patients, cases on rise in Jammu | | |
Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 1: The prevalence of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) has slowly tightened its grip on Jammu and Kashmir as over 5500 patients, have been tested HIV positive in the Jammu and Kashmir so far.
According to figures, over 5500 people have been detected in J&K so far. “Majority of them are from Jammu region.
Jammu, having the maximum fluctuating population, has reported the highest number of HIV patients”, the officials said.
The number of patients infected by HIV has shown an upward trend over the years. It has mainly been attributed to greater use of drugs than sexual transmission.
A senior official expressed concern over youth falling in the trap of drug mafias. He demanded revisiting the traditional approach to deal with the spread of the disease. “The drug menace has attained an alarming proportion. While the use of drugs is a major reason for HIV transmission mainly in the Kashmir valley, female sex workers, truckers and labourers are the main transmitters in some districts ” the official said, adding, “About 750 persons have died due to AIDS in the state since the first case was detected 30 years ago.”
It is to mention here that December 1 is marked as World AIDS Day and the whole world comes together to mourn those 35 million people, who have succumbed to the condition ever since its identification in 1984.
Aids is a life threatening disease in which a person’s immune system becomes weak and redundant, thereby causing it to easily get affected by various common infections which in most cases lead to death. |
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