Number Of Women With AIDS Has Fallen In Ernakulam Though the total number of HIV cases has come down in Ernakulam district from 116 cases in 2012 to 101 in 2013, the number of men with HIV has increased. While the district had 83 men living with HIV in 2013, it was 78 in 2012 and 101 in 2011. Of these, 33 persons are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) as on June 2014. Majority of HIV men were found to be in Thrissur district (184), followed by 139 in Thiruvananthapuram as on 2013. However, the number of HIV positive women in the district has fallen from 38 in 2012 to 18 in 2013. In contrast, the maximum number of HIV positive women are in Thiruvananthapuram (135), followed by Thrissur (102) as on 2013. The total number of HIV cases has come down from 1,909 cases in 2012 to 1,666 in 2013. Across all districts in the state, there is a decline in the number of HIV cases, except in Kollam (96), Malappuram (36) and Patha namthitta (46). These have been revealed under RTI by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS). KSACS has included Thiru vananthapuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Ernakulam districts amongst the high HIV prevalence areas. “Based on a district-wise breakup, it is difficult to say whether there is an increase or decrease in HIV cases in a particular district as there is a possibility that a person may move out of the district and do an HIV test to maintain secrecy,” said Kerala State AIDS Control Society, deputy director (ICT) , Dr Jayashree. At present, the state has about 26,276 female sex workers, 18,296 men having sex with man (MSM), 5,640 injecting drug users and 61,668 migrants covered by KSACS. “The number of HIV cases is set to reduce further. This is mainly due to intervention amongst the highrisk group and various awareness programmes,” said Rajagiri Outreach Suraksha Migrant Project, project manager, Sapna Raj.