GUWAHATI, May 1 - The World Journal of AIDS in a recently published article said that majority of spouses of HIV-positive women in Assam were involved in high-risk behaviour, especially unprotected sex with commercial sex workers, many of whom are still not covered by the State programme and therefore are more vulnerable to HIV infection.
�The HIV programme in Assam has done well by keeping the HIV infections at low levels and but we cannot be complacent as there are pockets of rising infections,� said Dr Chiranjeev Bhattacharjya, one of the authors and investigators of the study funded by ICMR and undertaken during 2015-16.
�Our study suggests the need to increase the coverage of spouses of HIV-positive women, many of whom are migrant labourers, truck drivers etc., into the continuum of HIV care and adopt innovative approaches by looking at the best global practices to bring the uncovered high-risk populations under the national programme,� he said.
Assam continues to be a low HIV-prevalence state in India with adult HIV prevalence of 0.06 per cent � which is lower than the national average (0.25 per cent). However, NACO data shows an increasing trend in HIV prevalence and new HIV infections in Assam from 2007 onwards.
The number of HIV-positive cases detected in Assam has also shown a rising trend. However, it can be attributed to the increase in HIV testing facilities which have been provided by the Government up to the grassroots level which has led to increased testing and detection.
NACO conducts periodic surveillance among different population groups to study the level and trend of HIV infection.
Surveys have also shown that there is a rising trend of HIV infection among the general population, which is represented by pregnant women who are assumed not to have any high-risk behaviour for HIV transmission but may get the infection from their partners.
