HC seeks reports from state, Centre over rising HIV cases in Tripura

AGARTALA — Acting on a PIL, the Tripura High Court has issued notices to both the state and Central governments seeking comprehensive reports on the rising HIV cases in the state within two weeks, officials said on Thursday.

Court sources said the PIL was taken up suo-moto by the high court after the reports of an alarming increase in HIV cases and deaths, particularly among the students and the youth of the state.

A division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Arindam Lodh took up the PIL following a letter from Justice T. Amarnath Goud, a judge of the high court, which highlighted the gravity of the issue.

The bench expressed its deep concerns over the rising HIV cases in the bordering state, a court official said.

The court noted that new cases must be identified regularly and necessary actions should be taken at the earliest.

The high court also asked the governments to explain the reasons behind the surge in HIV cases, the measures currently in place, and the strategies to curb students injecting drugs through the intravenous mode, a key factor for the spread of the disease in Tripura.

Between April 2007 and May 2024, 828 students registered as PLHIV (People Living With HIV), 47 of whom died during the 17 years. 

The Project Director of Tripura State AIDS Control Society, Samarpita Dutta, said that in 2022-23, 67 persons, including two students, died, while in 2023-24, 44 people died after being infected by HIV.

Presently, Tripura has approximately 8,000 known HIV-positive cases, though experts believe the figure represents only a fraction of the actual numbers, as many cases remain untracked.

The state recorded its first HIV case in 1996. Since then, there has been a marked increase in the number of infections, especially among high-risk groups such as youths using intravenous drugs, female sex workers, truck drivers, migrants, and gay people.