HIV infection alarming in Tripura; admin mulls amendment in rules for mass testing

Agartala: Tripura administration rocked with the growing incidences of HIV infection through injecting drug use mostly among teenagers mulls to seek amendment in the provision of mandatory consent for testing HIV to go for an intensive diagnosis.

A highly placed source in the administration on Friday said that the officials of Tripura’s AIDS Control Society have detected as many as 31 teenagers from 10 camps in Dhalai district after conducting test of over a thousand people in last two months and all those positive persons were identified as injecting drug users (IDU).

“HIV infection through sexual transmission has reduced to below two percent in Tripura but IDU climbed up to 95 percent among the student age between 14 and 20 years in last three years,” the sources claimed adding that with the sudden flow of injectable drugs in the state, students have become the most susceptible to it.

According to Sankalak (Annual Report of NACO) latest edition, AIDS patients have increased about 300 percent in Tripura over the decade. It stated among ID users is 43 times of the overall adult HIV prevalence, which continued to be high in the north-eastern states especially in Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur.

The number of HIV positive cases in last year increased to 757, which was only 11 in 2015-16 and in the first quarter of this year, Tripura registered around 200 HIV positive cases in the state. Tripura has so far registered more than 11000 ID users in Tripura and of them about 2100 were diagnosed HIV positive with the highest number in West Tripura, followed by South Tripura, Gomati, Sepahijala, Dhalai, North Tripura and Unokoti district.

The officials indicated that the students were trapped into the drug use that increased the risk of HIV spread. As per the national guidelines, Tripura has set up 33 Red Ribbon Clubs to educate the students and deal with the issues but unfortunately they become defanged.

“During counselling of the infected teenagers, it reveals that IDU students have formed small groups called – Blood Brother and when they have no provision of procuring drug, one of the users pull out blood from his/her body and injecting the same blood among the group members to keep their practice,” the officials stated.

The sources, however, claimed that the trend shows an epidemic indication, which needs to be addressed through extensive counselling and mass testing among the vulnerable age group but due to the provision of prior-consent of the individual, the entire process has been facing hindrance.

Besides a well-fitted strategy of the experts to deal with the increasing menace of HIV, the administration proposed to seek amendment in the provision, which laid down, “A person cannot be compelled to disclose his HIV status except under the directions of the court” from the central government and to involve all sections of the society.

According to National Crime Bureau report Tripura ranks first in terms of drug trafficking despite the state government adopting zero tolerance on drug use, trade and paddling.