AGARTALA, April 10– Tripura has recorded an alarming rise in the number of AIDS patients in recent years despite the fact that crores of rupees are being spent on the prevention of the deadly disease. According to the Project Director of the AIDS Control Society, Dr TK Das, there are 70 HIV positive and six full-blown AIDS patients. There were in total eight AIDS patients but two had died recently.
While delivering a lecture at a seminar organised by the Society of Pathologists, Microbiologists and Bio-chemists on the occasion of its biennial convention, Dr Das said, till date HIV virus was found in the blood samples of 79 people of the state. And there were eight full-blown AIDS patients. Out of them two have already died, three have left for other states and three are still around. Most of the HIV patients—66 male and 13 female - the doctor said, belong to the high-risk group. In fact, out of 79 patients 43 are security force jawans while 36 others are common men.
According to age-wise data, there are two patients in the 0-14 year age group while the figure is 22 in the 15-29 year age group (18 male and 4 female). In the age group 30-44 there are 42 male and seven female patients. There are also six HIV patients above the age of 45. The speakers at the seminar expressed concern at the way the AIDS graph has shown an upward turn in a state where there was no report of any such patient some years ago. They said that 97 pc of the HIV cases were due to unprotected sexual relations.