HIV infection up for first time in a decade – Business Daily
HIV infection in the country has increased for the first time in 10 years. FILE PHOTO | NMG
HIV infection in the country has increased for the first in 10 years, a new report shows.
The World Aids Day report 2022 to be released today indicated that the country has recorded an increase in new HIV infections for the first time in a decade with more than 2,000 cases from 32,025 to 34, 540.
Last year alone, the country recorded 34,540 HIV new cases.
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The report attributes the increase to the constant new HIV infections among children, adolescents and younger people, and the shortage of HIV drugs.
The report dubbed, it is a race against time by the National Syndemic Disease Control Council revealed that of the 34,540 new cases, 70 per cent (20,505) occurred among women and girls.
Eight out of 10 new HIV infections were among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 raising the burden of feminisation of the epidemic.
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“Women and girls continue to bear the brunt of the epidemic. They become infected at a much earlier age than men and boys of the same age,” says the report.
