Vol. 8, Issue 2, Part B (2022)

In India, the scenario of HIV infection has changed considerably since the first HIV/AIDS case was identified in Tamil Nadu in 1986. Various reports indicate that the prevalence of HIV in India has declined after a continuous increase till 2007. In general, most of the Indian states, including Kerala, showed a declining trend in HIV prevalence after 2007. AT the end of 2017, HIV prevalence is higher among men than women, with 0.25% of men and 0.19% of women living with HIV. It is also reported that 79% of people living with HIV were aware of their status, of whom 71% were on antiretroviral treatment (ART). The main objectives of the study are

•Study the socio demographic characteristics of PLHAs

•Study the different routes of transmission of HIV

•Identify those who are at more risk

•Evaluate the services rendered by ICTCs

•Identify problems faced by the PLHAs, if any

Secondary data provided by KSACS, keeping all personal identities confidential have been taken for the analysis.

There were 1161 new cases reported in 2019-20. The district with highest diagnosed case of HIV positives during 2019-20 is Thiruvananthapuram with 208 cases, which comes to 18% to the total cases. Among the reported cases, 99.3% have diagnosed with HIV-I infection and only 0.70% have HIV-II infection. Most of the respondents received the infection through heterosexual-casual/non-commercial/non regular partners. Main route of transmission of HIV is heterosexual-casual/non-commercial, non-regular partners irrespective of nature of their occupation. Route of transmission of 63.13% of the female PLHAs is heterosexual contact from regular partners/spouses but the route of transmission of 45% of male PLHAs is Heterosexual contact from Casual/non-commercial/non-regular partners.

HIV counselling and testing services are a key entry point for the prevention of HIV infection, and to treatment and care of people who are infected with HIV. There are 150 ICTC Centres in Kerala which are attached mainly to Government Health Facilities. Among 1161 cases, 49.20% of the references to ICTCs are from Government Health Facilities. It is understood that 14.4% of the PLHAs are in a critical stage with AIDS i.e. in Stage IV. It must be noted that responsibility of ICTC centres are very high in preventing/ controlling the spread of HIV infection. Cases are very few in some centres and in some ICTCs it is on the higher side. It is observed that activities of ICTC centres need to be fine tunes to attain its objective in a best possible manner. This study has evaluated these aspects also and has given some suggestion to improve its effectiveness.