TC Web Desk
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has shared that over 85,000 people across the country contracted HIV due to unprotected sex during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020-21. The country saw a steady decline in the number of HIV cases between 2011-12 to 2020-21.
In response to an RTI filed by a Madhya Pradesh-based activist, the NACO informed that 85,268 HIV cases were reported across the country in 2020-21 due to the unprotected sex.
Maximum of the reported HIV cases came from Maharashtra, with 10,498 cases. Andhra Pradesh was second on the list with 9,521 infections, followed by Karnataka with 8,947 cases. Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal reported 3,037 and 2,757 HIV infections, respectively.
After the Covid-19 cases surged, a lockdown was imposed all over the world. India too had a nationwide lockdown from March 25, 2020. People were locked inside their homes during the lockdown.
Before 2020, the country had reported a steady decline in its HIV cases. The number of HIV cases in Indian went down from 2.4 lakh HIV cases in 2011-12 to 1.44 lakh in 2019-20 and 85,268 in 2020-21.
The numbers have been monitored by National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), a part of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The programme was launched in 1992 as a comprehensive programme for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in India. It was implemented with the objective of slowing down the spread of HIV infections to reduce morbidity, mortality and impact of AIDS.
