STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Assam entered 2025 with a troubling surge in HIV cases, particularly among injecting drug users, as Kamrup Metro registered the highest number of HIV-positive detections in the 2025-26 cycle. The latest HIV Estimation Report 2025 showed that the state's adult HIV prevalence stood at 0.13 per cent, lower than the national figure of 0.20 per cent. The report estimated that 33,174 people were living with HIV in Assam, while the national estimate reached 25,61,161. The number of new infections in Assam for 2024-25 was assessed at 1,757.
The report highlighted a dramatic shift in the routes of transmission. In 2020-21, heterosexual transmission accounted for 77.3 per cent of detected cases; however, by 2025-26, this figure fell to 27 per cent. In contrast, HIV detection through injecting drug use rose sharply from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21 to 60 per cent in 2025-26, marking a worrying rise in drug-related infections.
Among the districts, Nagaon had the highest estimated number of people living with HIV at 4,622, followed by Kamrup Metro with 3,938 and Cachar with 3,646. Sribhumi, Kamrup, Sonitpur, Golaghat, Dhubri and Jorhat also reported significant numbers. Between April and October 2025, Kamrup Metro recorded 824 HIV-positive cases, the highest in the state. Nagaon detected 464 cases, while Sonitpur, Cachar, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Karbi Anglong, Jorhat, Barpeta, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Dhubri and Sribhumi also reported substantial detections.
Targeting an end to AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, the Assam State AIDS Control Society (ASACS) intensified its efforts to meet the UNAIDS 95-95-95 objectives.
ASACS observed World AIDS Day at the Srimanta Sankaradeva International Auditorium in Kalakshetra, Guwahati, with a programme centered on the theme "Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS Response." Project Director of ASACS, Dr Indranoshee Das, said the objective of the event was to unite people in support of those living with HIV and to remember those who lost their lives. She noted ASACS's progress since 1998 and reiterated the success of the Integrated Health Campaign in advancing the state towards the 95-95-95 goals.
Mission Director of the National Health Mission, Assam, Dr Lakshmanan S, presided over the event and emphasized the severity of rising HIV cases among drug users. He said more than 60 per cent of detections now involved injecting drug use and highlighted the persistent stigma faced by people living with HIV despite repeated awareness efforts. Director of Health Services, Assam, Dr Umesh Phangcho, urged the youth to avoid high-risk behaviours, while Assam Network of Positive People president Jahnabi Goswami called for greater sensitization to eliminate discrimination.