Afghanistan reports 200 AIDS cases in 2024

Kabul (The Uttam Hindu): Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health has registered 200 new cases of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)/HIV among citizens in 2024.

Eight treatment centers and 61 diagnostic centres for HIV/AIDS are active in Afghanistan, and health services for individuals with HIV/AIDS are being provided throughout the country, the ministry was quoted as saying, Xinhua news agency reported quoting state-run news agency Bakhtar.

According to the ministry's spokesperson Sharafat Zaman Amarkhail, a total of 3,700 HIV cases have been reported in Afghanistan since 1989.

At present, 1,400 people infected with the virus are receiving medical treatment across the country.

In 2023, approximately 39.9 million people globally were infected with HIV, while 630,000 people lost their lives to AIDS-related illnesses during the same period, data from the Joint United Nations Programs on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) showed recently.