Kohima: The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Nagaland stands at an alarming 78 per cent. This means 7 to 8 people out of every 1000 people are infected with the deadly virus compared to the national average where only 3 to 4 persons out of every 1000 people.
Dr Hutoka, Medical Officer in-charge of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centre in District Hospital of Dimapur announced this during a sensitisation programme on HIV/AIDS held at Signal Angami Basti yesterday.
He put the number of people detected with the disease to 12,400 in the state. He, however, said only 7,500 people had been registered as many people were yet to come forward for treatment despite already knowing their status.
He said one of the reasons why the drug administered to the patients has less effect was the late arrival of the patients. Dr Hutoka encouraged the people to come forward for blood testing and early treatment after detection of the disease.
He said 70 patients came to ART Centre Dimapur last month of whom 48 came very late. Dr. Hutoka said there were over 3,500 people infected with the disease in Dimapur as per record and that only 1,500 were undergoing treatment.
He said 127 people had died of the disease in Dimapur since the establishment of the Anti-Retroviral Therapy Centre at the District Hospital in 2006. Of the 127 deaths, majority of them were within the age group of 25 to 49 and only few were below 4 to 5 years. (UNI)