The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Immuno-serology laboratory has confirmed 13 new HIV positive sera from 29 samples received from districts hospitals for HIV confirmation between July and September this year. The overall reported cases of this year will be out by December.
Today, there are an estimated 500 reported cases of Bhutanese living with HIV of which 90 percent were infected through heterosexual sex.
The highest infected people till last year were between 30 to 39 years, followed by 25 to 29 years.
The most vulnerable group for HIV infection according to health officials are men having unprotected sex with men (MSM), Transgender (TG), injecting drug use and sex workers.
The country has had HIV testing services in the hospitals since 2006, after which it was found that the number of cases has been increasing due to awareness and improved health service systems.
The dominant mode of HIV transmission, in 90 percent of cases, was through the sexual route followed by Mother to Child Transmission in 8.2 percent of cases.
The first case of HIV was detected in 1993.
Of about 25,000 people tested for HIV last year, 59 have been detected with HIV.
