punjab news : A large-scale awareness campaign is run by the Punjab government to make people aware about AIDS. Special programs are run through TV, social media, cinema and web portals. Similarly, students of higher classes are also made aware in five thousand schools of the state, despite this, instead of decreasing, the cases of AIDS in Punjab are continuously increasing.
Number of AIDS patients in the state increased by 65 percent
If we look at the records of the last five years, the number of AIDS patients in the state has increased by 65 percent. This has been revealed in the report presented in the Lok Sabha. Experts believe that drug addiction is the main reason for the increase in HIV cases in Punjab. Many people use the same syringe to inject drugs. Due to this, the number of patients suffering from HIV is increasing in the state. However, there are many other reasons behind this.
This report of HIV infected patients in the state has been prepared under the National AIDS and STD Control Programme. According to the report, 2,45,939 AIDS patients have been reported from 2019-20 to 2023-24. It is increasing every year. The number of AIDS patients was 38,424 in the year 2019-20, which has increased to 63,554 in the year 2023-24. Along with men, the number of female patients is also increasing and 30 to 35 percent of the total cases are said to be women suffering from AIDS.
In 2019-20, 13,917 women were infected with HIV, but in the year 2023-24, the number of HIV infected women has increased to 19,083. Similarly, the risk of AIDS is increasing among transgenders also. In the year 2019-20, 117 transgenders were found infected with HIV, but in the year 2023-24, the number of transgender patients increased to 186.
