95 per cent of people infected with HIV in Mumbai taking treatment: Study

About 95 per cent of city residents infected by HIV are aware of their disease status and living with it with treatment says a survey carried out ahead of World AIDS Day which is observed on December 1The study was conducted by the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society MDACSDuring the pandemic while HIV diagnosis saw a hit the health officer heading the HIV AIDS programme in Mumbai said their focus was on ensuring the HIV patients continue to get their treatmentldquoWith the lockdown new diagnosis was less as people were reluctant to step out There were transport issues and our centres were turned into COVID facilities All these factors led to people postponing the diagnosis and reaching out only in case of emergencyrdquo said Dr Shrikala Acharya the additional project director MDACSShe said the focus was on treatment retention and achieving viral suppression in them ldquoAmong our many efforts was to start home delivery facility of ART drugs to ensure HIV patients continue their treatment During the pandemic we did viral load testing among the 26130 patients living with HIV and on treatment Good news is that we found 95637 of them virally suppressedrdquo said Dr AcharyaAmong those who were newly diagnosed Dr Acharya said 946 per cent had got it through unsafe sex She said that 24 per cent of these cases were of transmission from infected mother to baby 005 per cent was due to infected blood transfusion and 02 per cent was through infected needles or instrumentsAs per the MDACS report 36674 people living with HIV AIDS are on lifelong ART antiretroviral therapy of which 82 per cent are on first line regimen 11 per cent are on second line regimen It says 507 individuals are on third line drugsWith the lockdown easing off from July the MDACS has begun awareness programmes ldquoWe are focusing on digital awareness programmes and flash mobs From December 1 we are also starting advocacy and screening campaigns at railway stations to normalise screeningrdquo said Dr AcharyaThe MDACS is working towards eliminating mothertochild transmission of HIV and syphilis under a national goal ldquoWe right now have 196 pregnant women on HIV We have seen a downward trend of pregnant women testing positive for HIVrdquo said Dr Acharya