177 people have died of AIDS in Mizoram in past two decades

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Aizawl, Dec 1 (PTI) At least 177 of the 527 persons affected with full blown AIDS have died in Mizoram during the past two decades, officials said today.

Stating this on World AIDS Day today, Dr Eric Zomawia Project Director of the Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) said the deaths occurred since 1990 when the first HIV/AIDS case was detected in the state.

Zomawia said out of the 1,27,509 blood samples tested during the two decades, 5,151 were found to be HIV positive, 

A high majority of the people were infected through sexual contact and sharing of syringes by drug users.

Official records said that around 200 babies were born annually in the state with HIV because of infection through their mothers.

On an average 100 fresh cases of HIV were detected every month in the state.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4646670