HIV SENTINEL SURVEILLANCE (HSS)

Aug. 7, 2018

Govt. informed Parliament that, acc. to HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2016-17, the North-Eastern States have emerged as the new hotspots for HIV.

HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS):

  • HSS is a biennial study conducted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

  • It is conducted among:
    • Pregnant women visiting Antenatal Clinic (ANC) and

    • HIV High risk groups: Female Sex Workers (FSW), Men having Sex with Men (MSM), Injecting Drug Users (IDU), Transgender, Single Male Migrants (SMM) & Long Distance Truckers (LDT).



  • Technical brief from HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2016-17 was released in December 2017.

 Findings of HSS 2016-17:

  • The highest HIV prevalence was among Injecting Drug Users (IDU) followed by transgender and Men having Sex with Men (MSM).

  • Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have emerged as the new hotspots for HIV due to the high-risk behaviour of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and unsafe sexual practices.

  • HIV among ANC attendees:
    • HIV prevalence among the ANC clinic attendees continue to be declining.

    • 13 states have ANC HIV prevalence more than the national average. Of these states, the north-eastern states of Mizoram followed by Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur were among the highest.



Source : The Hindu