Maharashtra: 92 HIV positive persons died due to Covid in last 8 months

As many as 405 people living with HIV were Covid-19 positive, of which 92 died due to the viral infection in the last eight months, according to data by Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS). Officials said they are trying to analyse how many of these people died prior to July, when not many treatment modalities were available.

Covid-19 has threatened the progress made against HIV, and on the occasion of World AIDS Day (December 1), experts say there’s a need to get the HIV response back on track. According to MSACS officials, 14,000 HIV patients did not return to the anti-retroviral treatment (ART) centres as per their scheduled visits because of the lockdown. “We have reached out to 80 per cent of these people and presently, efforts are being made to trace and treat 2,200 patients, who have been lost to follow up,” an official said.