The Centre’s figures on the number of persons living with HIV have put Jharkhand in a red zone.
Though lesser people are now affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the country, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury on Tuesday quoted the number as high as 47,976 for the State. He was replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha. The alarming figure is way ahead of what agencies and the State Government have been presenting from time to time.
The Ministry’s estimate says total number of people living with HIV in 2011 in India was 2,088,642 while in Jharkhand it was 47,976. Choudhury added that gross budgetary support to deal with the deadly disease would be Rs 11,394 crore in the Twelfth Plan, of which about Rs 7,314.46 crore has been allocated to be spent on HIV prevention and awareness. Nevertheless, the figure is well above calculations done in Jharkhand and puts the State at 11th position on a list of States.
Dr BP Chaurasia, additional project director of Jharkhand State AIDS Control Society, told The Pioneer, “I cannot say about figures presented in Parliament. According to latest data available with us, 12,500 persons in the State are living with HIV. The number has gone up in the State but it is certainly nowhere near to what has been quoted.”
JSACS figures for last year suggest about 10,000 persons with HIV, confined mostly to Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur — the area where migration and movement of residents is common. In the percentage terms, share of persons with HIV in total population of the State touched 0.27 per cent that was 0.25 per cent a year ago. “We are witnessing numbers going up in Jharkhand also due to lack of awareness among people with HIV. In many cases, they discontinue taking anti-retroviral drugs midway, which is bringing them back into the HIV+ fold,” added Chaurasia.
The Ministry’s estimate has ranked Andhra Pradesh — with 4.19 lakh patients — and Maharashtra — with 3.15 lakh patients — as the top two States in terms of persons living with the infection.