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| AIDS spreading at alarming pace in J&K, 73 people get infected every month | | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Oct 19: Beware! AIDS is spreading at an alarming pace in Jammu and Kashmir with around 73 cases being reported every month.
Figure of 73 when seen arithmetically brings to light a shocking fact that 2 cases are reported on daily basis where either an Adult gets infected with AIDS or a child or an elderly becomes the victim. Though the number is too small but for a small state like Jammu and Kashmir which is known across the country as land of Sufis and saints and where metropolitan culture is still some distance away, doctors accept that the increase is not only alarming but requires serious corrective measures.
According to the fact sheet on Jammu and Kashmir brought out by Department of AIDS Control of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, J&K reported 5812 cases of AIDS in the year 2011. This included 163 cases in which children had got infected with AIDS. 311 cases of elderly people over the age group of 49 years were also reported as AIDS infected in the same year. Since the data for the last two years is being tabulated and would be made public somewhere in the month of December, rough data does vindicate that the number of people infected with AIDS has reached 8000 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The data for the year 2011 on the basis of which fact sheet has been prepared further shows that the number of AIDS cases have shown sharp increase from the year 2007 to 2011. According to this data, J&K reported 2433 cases of AIDS in the year 2011 and this number is now at staggering 8000 in the year 2014. This is threefold increase in the number of AIDS cases being reported in J&K in the last 8 years. Though the data for this year i.e. 2014 is being tabulated in New Delhi, the available data upto the year 2011 also shows two-fold increase in the number of AIDS cases.
Of the number of reported AIDS cases, there was increase of around 596 cases in year 2008 from what was reported in the year 2007. 2433 AIDS cases were reported in the year 2007. This increased to 3029 in 2008, 3772 in the year 2009, 4688 in 2010 and 5812 in 2011. The figures clearly show how the cases of children, elderly and adult getting infected with AIDS have increased during these five years. Of these, the number of male which got infected with AIDS is far higher than the number of females. 1554 more males have got infected with AIDS than females.
More alarming is that 146 AIDS related deaths have also been reported from various parts of Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2011. This number is today hovering over 200. The number of new infections which have been reported in the year 2014 so far is around 2500. This increase has taken place despite state government claiming of having provided more than 23, 946 counselling and testing services to the suspected individuals across the state.
National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) further estimates that J&K has 14,600 people with HIV, with a sizeable number of these in Kashmir. However, Jammu and Kashmir Aids Preventive Control Society (JKAPCS) in the year 2007 reported 211 cases of AIDS compared to 34 in 2006. This was six-fold increase in one year. The government also reported 42 AIDS deaths in 2007. However, not much was done on the ground to ensure that AIDS related cases do not go unreported.
People with TB or any of the other AIDS-related opportunistic infections may not be recorded as having AIDS. This is especially so when ignorance and the fear of being shunned by family and friends prevents most people from seeking testing and, if necessary, treatment. Doctors may hesitate to report AIDS fearing that the report will leak out and cause stigma to the person and family. So reports of AIDS cases provide limited information. |
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