Increases by 285, HIV AIDS in NTT Becomes 2,996 Cases

Illustration of the HIV-AIDS transmission prevention campaign. (Antara-Irwansyah P)

NTT - The Regional AIDS Commission (KPAD) of East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT) noted that cases of HIV/AIDS transmission in the local province increased by 285 cases from the period 2021 to August 2022.

"The number of HIV/AIDS cases in 2021 will be 2,117 cases, but there will be an increase of 285 cases until August 2022 to 2,996 cases", said Head of the NTT KPAD, Dr. Husein Pancratius, when contacted, Wednesday, September 14.

He said this was related to the development of cases of HIV/AIDS transmission in NTT.

Husein explained that new cases of HIV/AIDS transmission in NTT always exist or do not show signs of a decline in cases.

The development of cases, he said, shows that there are quite good conditions where the number of HIV cases is more than AIDS.

He gave an example, such as the number of cases that will increase in 2021 to as many as 705 cases, consisting of 488 cases of HIV and 217 cases of AIDS.

"Why is this still better because it takes between 5-10 years for those who are infected with HIV to become AIDS, which means they can be treated more quickly", he said.

Husein said the increasing number of cases showed that preventive measures needed to be improved by educating the public because there were still many people who did not understand how HIV/AIDS was transmitted.

"Efforts to promote health and education for the community appear to be very weak, so they need to be strengthened again", he said, according to Antara.

Husein hopes that the local government in NTT will also prioritize overcoming the transmission of HIV AIDS in addition to efforts to handle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic because HIV/AIDS is a real threat to the survival of the nation's generation.