The number of HIV-positive cases reported from Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Thrissur districts has been higher than other districts between 2002 and October 2017.
Kozhikode district health officials, who said this at a press meet here on Wednesday, however, clarified that those who had been tested positive from a district might not necessarily have hailed from the same district. According to available data, 5,836 of the 7.49 lakh people whose blood samples were examined in Thiruvananthapuram were tested positive for HIV.
Sreekumar Mukundan, Deputy District Medical Officer, said of the 3.9 lakh whose blood samples were examined in Thrissur district, 5,049 were tested positive. In Kozhikode, 4.65 lakh tested their blood samples and 4,614 were positive.
Dr. Mukundan said this statistics could not be used for comparison of HIV prevalence among districts because those who examined their blood from a medical college in one of these districts might belong to a nearby district. Also, the facility was available only at government medical colleges earlier. He said the number of HIV-positive cases was coming down in the State over the past few years. While 2,627 cases were reported in 2005, till October this year, the figure stood at 1,071.
World AIDS Day
The officials said that World AIDS Day would be observed in the district on Friday. A student rally would be taken out from the Kozhikode beach at 4 p.m. on Thursday and flash mobs would be organised there and at the mofussil bus stand. On Friday, candlelights would be lit at the medical college auditorium at 7 p.m.
