Jaipur: HIV testing in the state has been influenced by Pandemic Covid-19 in 2020-21, with a number of tests down 16.1% compared to 2019-20.
As a result, the number of people who tested HIV positively had fallen.
Despite being burdened by Covid, health authorities succeeded in conducting 25 Lakh HIV tests during the last financial year.
However, if people who live with HIV remain undetectable, they accidentally spread the virus to others.
In 2019-20, the state held a test of 30.7 lakh HIV with 7,021 people tested positive.
But at 2020-21, the test dropped to 25.8 lakh and the number of people tested positive 4,543.
“One reason for the decline in the number of people who tested HIV positive was a decrease in testing because Covid,” said Dr.
Ravi Prakash Sharma, Director (AIDS).
The Ministry of Health conducts voluntary HIV tests for pregnant women while providing antenatal examination and also provides facilities to the general public at the HIV clinic or by regulating camps during festivals when people from the state of other states.
While the HIV test of pregnant women has not increased last year, the same for the general population has been significantly reduced due to pandemic.
Pregnant women’s testing has risen from 15.1 lakh in 2019-20 to 15.3 lakhs in 2020-21, while among the general population was reduced from 15.6 lakh to 10.4 lakh.
HIV prevalence has declined in the state for the past few years and has been stable in recent years.
The level of participants has taken a marginal decline from 0.22% to 0.17%, which reflects the tendency to decline in the state.
At present, 46,855 people in this country are in antiretroviral therapy (ART), indicating that the number of people living with HIV takes care in the state.
In 2018-19, the number of people living with HIV took ART was 41.408, which rose to 45,209 in 2019-20.