Darjeeling is in grip of HIV. According to a data produced by NACO, the hill station has high density of AIDS patients, and two persons in every hundred are affected with HIV. The study done in the year 2007 shows that while the place in earlier study had just one percent HIV patients, the number has doubled up.

 

Other highly affected areas are Patna, Banka and Sitamarhi in Bihar, Indore in MP, Deogarh in Orissa, Kasargod in Kerala, Amreli in Gujarat, and Janjgir-Champa in Chhattisgarh. NACO has identified 87 highly risky districts having higher number of HIV patients.

 

Kanuru Sujatha Rao, director of NACO, talking about the causes of increase in number of patients of AIDS said that migration of population has something to do with it; factually, Darjeeling fetches tourists from all across the world. Though, other reasons too can not be ruled out, the increase is alarming indeed.

 

Ashok Alexander, of AVAHAN, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s HIV prevention initiative in India, said that each district has its own saga to tell about the cause of HIV. He concluded that the rise to a level above 1 per cent indicates a spillover from high-risk groups into the general population.