Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb called for a social consensus to expedite the fight against the spread of HIV while addressing the state-level celebration of World AIDS Day here today.
Amplifying the action of his government against abuse of drugs, Deb urged the parents and guardians to take an extra effort to prevent the use of drugs by the younger generations and informed that the use of intravenous drugs has turned out to be a major contributor to the rise of HIV and AIDS in the state.
He pointed out that his government was determined to combat the use of drugs, thereby preventing the infection of HIV, as other ways of spreading AIDS have not been an issue in Tripura. Along with tracing, testing and generating awareness, motivating youths into sports, culture and nation-building activities besides, studies could be the options to fight against drugs and AIDS, Deb suggested.
According to a report, about 70 per cent of HIV positive cases have a history of intravenous drug use. Traditionally, Damcherra of North Tripura district – the bordering location of Tripura and Mizoram is considered to be the hotspot of HIV cases for the last many years. Recently, the spread of HIV became evident in West Tripura district and Dhalai district and at present, the state is having about 2,500 positive cases.
There were only 295 positive cases in 2015-16 and rose to 321 the next year. However, the figure dropped to 306. The cases further increased to 338 in 2018 -19, 442 in 2019-20, 487 in 2020-21 and till October this year as many as 560 cases have been registered, the report indicated.
