Summary:
The state has the fifth highest deaths due to HIV infections in the country.In the last three financial years ending in 2017-18, Gujarat saw 8,086 deaths due to HIV or Aids; of these 2,819 died in 2017-18. AHMEDABAD: In the last three years, Gujarat saw an increase in Aids deaths, already raising alarm bells for the state government. Major Gujarat cities and industrial towns along the Golden corridor are under focus,” adds the health official. In 2016-17 the state saw 2,640 HIV related deaths and in 2015-16 the previous year Gujarat saw 2,627 deaths due to the deadly disease.In its 2017 report, NACO had claimed that new pockets of infection had emerged in states like Gujarat, Bihar, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan , Odisha, and Jharkhand which needed close monitoring and tailored prevention and treatment programmes. The report also pointed out that the transmission dynamics between states caused by migration should be studied and should be recognised as a key driver of new HIV infections.Interestingly, against the rising number of HIV deaths the central allocation for Aids control has decreased for Gujarat..