Sharp rise in HIV, a worry
Usually, there are between 350,000 to 400,000 pregnancies each year and in 2015, 168,111 mothers were screened, with three being detected with HIV and administered antiretroviral therapy, successfully preventing the virus from being transmitted to their babies."
A sharp increase in HIV cases in the first quarter of 2016 is causing concern in health circles.
Some 68 cases were reported in January-March compared to 59 in the same period last year. Seventeen cases were reported in the second quarter to midMay this year. While Sri Lanka remains a low HIV-prevalent country, the number of people living with HIV-AIDS has increased steadily over the years.
UNAIDS Country Officer Dayanath Ranatunga said the “significant” increase of HIV infections among young people is a cause for concern. “The new infections not only indicate that young people are sexually active but also that they are not taking any protective measures. This is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately,” he said.
The rise could be due to more people coming in for testing following awareness programs being carried out across the country, the Director of the National STD/AIDS Control Program (NSACP), Dr. Sisira Liyanage, said.
Awareness campaigns are mainly concentrated among highrisk groups such as female sex workers, drug addicts, beach boys, prisoners and homosexuals.
Seventy per cent of HIVpositive cases this year are male, most in the 25-45 age group, Dr. Liyanage said.
The running total of HIV cases stood at 2, 377 (1, 505 males and 872 females) by the first quarter of 2016 and cumulative AIDS cases were 613 (422 males and 191 females). Nine deaths were reported this year so far.
The NSACP estimates there should be 4,000 people living with HIV in Sri Lanka but only 2,395 cases have been reported from 1986 to date.
Dr. Liyanage says NSACP projections are based on population, prevalence of HIV, estimation of key population (drug addicts, sex workers and homo- sexual MSM sex), prevalence of HIV in the key population and people under antiretroviral treatment.
Nearly 40 per cent of HIV cases reported as a history of migrant employment, he said.
Dr. Liyanage urged patients diagnosed with HIV to adhere to scientifically-proven treatment. When antiretroviral (ARV) treatment is taken, the viral load in the blood is undetectable and HIV would not be transmitted to others. This treatment can be used as prevention as well.
He said some patients who stopped the prescribed treatment and switched to traditional methods have died.
All is not grim news: the success of Sri Lanka’s HIV prevention and control programme has been commended in the World Health Organisation’s Report on Global SexuallyTransmitted Infection (STI) Surveillance 2013.
Countries such as Sri Lanka and Cuba offer a basic set of quality STI services that are widely accessible and include outreach to high-risk people, the WHO report said.
The three areas covered, according to the report, are availability and accessibility of basic STI services of good quality to all who need them; urgent steps being taken to reduce high-incidence transmission in sex work and MSM networks; reliable incidence and preva- lence data from high-risk and general population groups being routinely monitored to guide programme efforts.
NSACP Consultant Venereologist Dr. G. Weerasinghe said in 2014 alone, close to 900,000 tests were carried out for HIV.
STI control efforts in Sri Lanka are organised around STI clinics at district hospitals and linked to strong primary health care services in communities.
“Usually, there are between 350,000 to 400,000 pregnancies each year and in 2015, 168,111 mothers were screened, with three being detected with HIV and administered antiretroviral therapy, successfully preventing the virus from being transmitted to their babies,” Dr. Weerasinghe said.
The target is to screen all pregnant women for HIV by the end of next year in keeping with global efforts to have an AIDS-free generation.
Almost 50 schoolchildren living with HIV, having got the virus through mother-to child transmission are being treated.
“Currently, we carry out syphilis testing and we plan to use the same blood sample for AIDS testing. At present, we conduct the test on 60 per cent of the population, with plans to achieve 100 per cent by end 2016,” Dr. Liyanage said.
People need to be more educated over sexual health and sexual responsibility, including testing for HIV, no matter how and where they meet their partner, Mr. Ranatunga of UNAIDS said.
HIV is found in the body fluids of an infected person — semen and vaginal fluids, blood and breast milk. The virus is passed from one person to another through blood-to-blood and sexual contact.
In addition, sharing needles can expose users to HIV and other viruses.
The National STD/AIDS Control Program can be contacted at 011-26 67 163 and through www.aidscontrol.gov.lk for preventive instructions.