HIV Cases Increase Rapidly in Goa

The HIV prevalence rate among commercial sex workers in the red-light area of Bania, South Goa, is as high as 55 percent, according to officials at the Goa State AIDS Control Society. Most HIV carriers are male. Since the first HIV case was detected in Goa in 1987, the number of cases has increased steadily. In 2000, the number of cases recorded was 807, with 13 deaths reported. Between January and August 2001, of the 4,708 HIV tests conducted, there were 507 cases and 36 deaths. These figures relate to blood tests carried out at Goa Medical College Hospital. Officials say many of the HIV cases resulted from tattooing with the same needle and from massages leading to sexual encounters, mainly in the coastal areas of the state. STD patients formed the highest risk group -- the chance of acquiring or transmitting HIV was 10 times higher with an STD than without one.

Although the Goan government is engaged in prevention and control of HIV through awareness drives and campaigns, including blood safety measures and management of STDs, there is a growing fear that the problem is far from solved. One of the biggest drawbacks to arriving at any credible figure of those with HIV is the fear of stigma and ostracism by society or even family. Dr. Jeremy Joseph Dias is director of Health Services for the STD Control Program in Goa. He said his department was using anonymous surveys conducted by a team of doctors, laboratory technicians and nurses at five HIV Sentinel Surveillance sites to pinpoint at-risk populations in both the high- and low-risk categories.

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