HIV cases dropped drastically in Goa during last decade: Survey

Panaji: The number of people detected as HIV positive in Goa have gone down drastically during the last decade, according to the Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in the State Legislative Assembly.

"It is been observed that number of persons detected as HIV positive declined from 1094 in 2007 to 302 in 2016," said the Survey which was placed on the floor of the House recently. Though the number of people detected as HIV positive is decreasing, the number of blood samples collected for testing is on rise in the state. The Survey says that the total number of blood samples collected for testing has witnessed substantial rise from 22,917 in 2007 to 46,988 in 2016. Also it points out that year 2016 recorded 302 HIV positive cases as against 345 cases in 2015.

"However, the total number of blood samples tested for HIV witnessed a rise from 62,657 in 2015 to 65,080 samples during 2016. The HIV positive detection rate in 2016 stood at 0.64 percent while in 2015 it was 0.55 percent," it said. The Survey goes back to figures from 2008, when 1,019 HIV positive cases were detected. This dropped to 959 in 2009 and further declined to 821 in 2010. The graph then continued to show a downward trend with 665 cases in 2011, 554 persons tested positive in 2012, then 532 cases in 2013, 475 in 2014 and 345 in 2015.

It also revealed that detection rate is high among male than females, with maximum number of cases for both male and females being detected between the age group of 25-34 years. The HIV testing facilities in the state are available at 11 Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres (ICTCs), four Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission Centers (PPTCT), 19 facility integrated counseling and testing centers at primary health care and 14 in public private partnership hospitals in the state.