NEW DELHI, Aug 4 - There was an overall decrease in the number of persons diagnosed with AIDS in the country in the last three years, even as a few States had witnessed the emergence of �new hotspots� of HIV, Parliament was informed on Friday.
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura had seen the emergence of such �hotspots� due to �high risk� behaviour among injecting drug users (IDUs) and unsafe sexual practices.
�However, there is a decrease in the number of HIV patients diagnosed during the last three years,� he said.
According to the data shared by the Minister, 2,00,465 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2015-16, 1,93,195 in 2016-17 and 1,90,763 in 2017-18.
In all the three years, Maharashtra reported the maximum number of cases with 28,030 people diagnosed with HIV in the State in 2017-18.
For Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura, the government has identified the high HIV prevalence pockets affecting pregnant women and high-risk groups (female sex workers and IDUs), according to the data. � PTI
