With increase in public awareness, more and more women are going for HIV test every year. At the same time, the number of women testing positive for HIV in district is declining, statistics show. In an attempt to prevent passing the HIV virus from mother to child, the Parliamentary Forum on HIV and AIDS had encouraged pregnant mothers to undergo HIV test at an early stage. Mangesh Gaikwad, programme officer, Aurangabad district AIDS preventive and control unit, said: “Aiming that all pregnant women undergo the test, the state government has taken initiatives, which include opening of integrated counselling and training centres throughout the district. The spread of awareness has resulted in increasing number of pregnant women going for HIV test every year. The figure has jumped from 22,497 in 2007 to 54,169 in 2013.” Gaikwad added: “Meanwhile, the number of women testing positive for HIV is declining. In 2007, 81 pregnant women in the district tested HIV positive, while, in 2013, only 33 tested positive.”

Click Here To Read More