266 died from AIDS this year, 1,276 identified: DGHS

The number HIV/AIDS infections and deaths is increasing in Bangladesh, a DGHS study said.

According to it, a total of 1,276 new AIDS patients were identified in the country this year. Of them, 266 have died.

This is the highest number of HIV infections and deaths reported in Bangladesh in a year.

The study was disclosed at a programme, organised by the TB-L & AIDS /STD Program of the DGHS, in Dhaka yesterday, marking World AIDS Day which was on December 1.

In his keynote speech, Md Mahfuzur Rahman Sarkar, programme director, presented the statistics.

Of the newly infected, 1,118 are Bangladeshi citizens and 158 are Rohingyas living in Cox's Bazar, the study shows.

Last year, 947 new AIDS patients were reported across the country, of them 232 people died.

The very first AIDS patient was reported in Bangladesh in 1989. Since then, a total of 10,984 AIDS patients have been identified. Of them, 2,086 have died.

However, DGHS officials assume that the country has more than 15,000 AIDS patients.