Number of AIDS patients increases, but deaths decrease

Due to the introduction of modern drugs and treatment systems worldwide, deaths by HIV/AIDS have dropped significantly in recent years.  Now it is possible for AIDS patients to survive for a long time with taking proper treatment at the right time. Like other countries in the world, awareness about AIDS, medical services and facilities have increased in Bangladesh.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, a total of 658 people were diagnosed with AIDS in 2020. In 2021, this number was 729. In 2022, 947 were diagnosed with AIDS.  Some 303 more patients increased last year from the previous year. Out of the 1,250 newly-identified people this year, the number of common people is more. Male sex workers (homosexual) and people of the third gender are in second position.

According to the National AIDS/STD Control Programme, steps are being taken to bring more AIDS patients under medical facility every year.

About 232 people died of AIDS in Bangladesh in 2022. It was the high from the previous years. With this, the total number of AIDS deaths in the country increased to 1,820. According to the latest information of the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh, from November 2021 to October 2022, a total of 947 persons were infected with HIV in the country. Among them, 128 are Rohingyas and remaining 819 are country’s citizens.

In 2019, the success of awareness programme was 52 percent and it was 63 percent in 2021. Two years ago, 65 percent patients were under medical facility, now it has stood at more than 77 percent. According to UN, every country’s goal is to bring 95 percent of AIDS patients under medical facility.

UN AIDS country manager for Bangladesh Dr Saima Khan says, the strategy of UN for the next five years is ‘You are equal to you’, ‘Undetectable is equal to untransmissible’. It means “if I can reduce the virus in the body by taking medicine to such a level that it can no longer spread. Then my HIV is not spreading, I can live longer”.

“Many modern drugs have come in the market, their side effects are very less but the effectiveness is very high. Those can significantly reduce virus, but cannot eliminate. One is to take medicine for live long”, she said.

A member of Bangladesh Country Coordinating Mechanism (BCCM), an organization working to prevent AIDS, says life expectancy is not a matter, if a person receives proper treatment, he or she can get normal life like other people. You never understand if someone is HIV positive or negative.

Health Minister Zahid Malek said the government has taken various initiatives for the treatment and rehabilitation of HIV patients. Now 11 public hospitals in the country are providing free drugs to HIV patients, 23 hospitals have allowed free HIV diagnosis and 134 institutions are providing HIV prevention services among the people who are at risk.