Tamil Nadu witnesses 70 per cent rise in HIV AIDS deaths in last three years

According to the reports of Ekatha Ann and statistics sourced by TOI, the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu may have made an improvement as far as the distinction of high-prevalence state for HIV-AIDS is concerned, but the dark spot in its success story is the rising rate of deaths among those living with the infection in the last three years. 

Despite the decline in the prevalence of the infection, the crisis is far from over as 4,397 people infected with HIV had died in 2016, pushing up the average increase in the number of deaths by 70 per cent from what it was till 2013. Low HIV AIDS awareness among people could have led to an increase in late referrals, high dropout rates, and poor treatment outcomes. 

According to experts, several national surveys, including the National Family Health Survey and the District Health Surveys, have pointed the spike in death among those diagnosed with AIDS more than a decade ago.