AHMEDABAD: In the last three years, Gujarat saw an increase in Aids deaths, already raising alarm bells for the state government. 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. 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. In 2015 the state was allocated Rs 5,674 cr which reduced to Rs 5,271 cr in 2017-18.The other states that have recorded high deaths due to Aids are Maharashtra with 10,061 deaths in 2017-18, in the same period Karnataka registered 8,126 deaths Tamil Nadu saw 4,314 deaths and UP, one of the largest states in the country witnessed 3,723 deaths. The figures were placed in the Lok Sabha Union minister of state for health Anupriya Patel recently.“We have intensified our outreach programmes for HIV awareness among hig risk groups in the state,” says a senior state health official. he adds, “One of the problems we are grappling with now is the increasing migratory population. Major Gujarat cities and industrial towns along the Golden corridor are under focus,” adds the health official.

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