DIMAPUR, Feb 17 - Nagaland has been ranked third among the Northeastern States after Mizoram and Manipur in HIV prevalence rate with 1.15 per cent. This is 0.9 per cent above the national prevalence rate.
The State recorded 24,039 HIV positive cases since 1999, according to data of the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS). The figures were updated till August 2018.
The data reveals that in just five months from April to August 2018, 876 new cases were detected out of 37,595 tests carried out in 11 districts, indicating a rough trend of 175 new HIV cases per month at an average. Dimapur topped the district-wise breakup with 488 positive cases while Kohima and Tuensang followed with 131 and 106 cases respectively.
Mokokchung registered 54 new cases during the period, Wokha 22, Kiphire and Peren 17 each, Zunheboto 15, Phek 14 and Mon 12. Longleng was the only district that registered nil HIV cases out of 977 persons who tested their blood.
The data said 91 per cent of the new cases belong to the age group of 15 to 49 and the route of transmission for 90 per cent is through sexual contact.
Also, as per the data, the cumulative figures since 1999 showed that out of the 24,039 cases that tested positive, 17,315 persons living with HIV had registered on anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Out of them, 12,190 started ART while 1,609 had died and the rest 7,663 are �alive and on ART�.
