Increasing concern over a slow comeback of cases of HIV infection in Maharashtra has led the state AIDS control society to do a re-think about effective strategies to prevent the disease among the most vulnerable risk groups and step up awareness among adolescents. Towards that end, Red Ribbon Clubs are now being planned across 14,000 colleges in the state with the first having been set up at Pune's B J Medical College. “We have noted a rise in the HIV positivity rate among young adolescents in the 17-22 age group,” Dr Prasad Bhandari, Additional Project Director, Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) told The Indian Express. According to MSACS data, there are approximately 2.36 lakh people living with HIV in Maharashtra and in Pune there are more than 32755 HIV-positive persons. In the year 2022-23, Maharashtra identified 14,347 with HIV of which 5 per cent (674) were in the 17-22 age group. In Pune,of the 2082 new cases of HIV there were 105 with the infection in the same age group. “Now, as part of Maha Yuva Samwad HIV/AIDS campaign, activities will be carried out by Red Ribbon Clubs to promote awareness about HIV and sexually transmitted infections, Dr Bhandari said. A move that is required in these times,” Dr. Ishwar Gilada, Consultant in HIV, STDs and Infectious Diseases and President-Emeritus, AIDS Society of India told The Indian Express. Dr Gilada is concerned that educational institutions teach as little about sex as possible. “Yet plenty of sex material is available on the net or on campus and young people surely explore. But scientific sex education is opposed or at best shied away. A third of young people, especially males, visiting our clinic had their first sex experience as ‘abuse’. And it is common that an abused become an abuser in due course,” Dr Gilada told The Indian Express Dr Vinay Kulkarni, who has been coordinating Prayas Health Group for over three decades, also points out that they observed changes in the risk behaviour in communities for a while now and the reasons are multifold. “It could be meeting strangers via online dating apps and indulging in risky behaviour, staying away from families and late marriages, different attitudes to sexuality and many are now in same-sex relationships. Awareness campaigns are extremely important.However this activity had taken a backseat,”Dr Kulkarni said. Rise in syphilis Syphilis is a bacterial infection usually spread by sexual contact that starts as a painless sore. Doctors across some clinics in Pune have noted a rise in cases of syphilis. “This is the oldest known infection in medical history and would be very common before 2000. There was a complete absence for 15 years. Now ,in the last five years we have started seeing a rise few cases every week,” Dr Kulkarni said. According to Dr Sanjay Pujari, infectious diseases consultant, they seen few cases of syphilis in their clinic among the MSM population. “We also do get a few youngsters who have indulged in unsafe sex reporting to the clinic for a check up to find out if they have the HIV infection or not” Dr Pujari admits.
