About 500 cases of HIV registered in Armenia in 2023

YEREVAN, December 1. /ARKA/. Some 500 new cases of HIV were reported in Armenia from January 1 to October 31, 2023, Stepan Atoyan, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, said to a news conference today, convened on World AIDS Day. He added that 61 are foreigners.

Some 70% of the cases were recorded among men and 30% were women. "The largest age group of infected people are those aged 25-39. By regions, the highest HIV rates are registered in Shirak, Lori and Gegharkunik provinces," he said.

He recalled that a total of 5,535 cases of HIV have been recorded in Armenia since 1988. There are 4,356 HIV-positive people living in the country now.

"According to some estimates, only 74% of the infected citizens know about their HIV status. It is necessary to join forces to increase this number. Our goal is to have at least 95% of HIV-positive people to know about their status," he noted.

He said also a mobile clinic of the National Center for Infectious Diseases will be set up near Freedom Square on December 1 and from 13:00 to 19:00 citizens will be able to apply for free counseling and testing for HIV, hepatitis-C and syphilis.

"Every year we see an increase in the number of people applying to mobile clinics. For example, this year, in connection with the day of the fight against hepatitis, there was also a large number of citizens' appeals compared to previous years," he said.

Atoyan noted that the purpose of installing mobile clinics is early diagnosis of the disease, which allows avoiding complications. He drew attention to the fact that the treatment of the disease, including the first diagnosis, is free of charge. -0-