HIV infection is rising at an alarming rate in Khulna. Over the past eight months, 17 people have died of AIDS-related complications, while 55 others have newly tested positive for HIV in the same period. Among the new cases, men who have sex with men (MSM) make up the largest group. The figures emerge from data at the antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre of Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH).
An analysis of the data shows that of the 55 newly identified cases, 37 are men and 18 are women. They include seven female sex workers, six male sex workers, 22 men who have sex with men, one woman who injects drugs and eight people living together as unmarried partners. Another 11 — five men and six women — were identified among the general population.
According to the KMCH ART centre, a total of 735 people — 434 men and 301 women — were tested for HIV over the eight months.
Month by month, one female patient from Khulna died in December. Four people died in January — two men and two women — and three in March, two men and one woman.
Two died in April, one from Jashore and the other from Pirojpur. In May, a female patient from Khulna who regularly travelled to India died, and in June the only death was a male patient from Jashore. Sources said some deaths were also recorded in July. In all, the death toll over the eight months stands at 17.
Chinmoy Das, a data assistant at the ART centre, said that from 2017 to June 2026, a total of 7,773 people were tested for HIV at the KMCH ART centre, of whom 964 were found positive — 603 men, 353 women and eight transgender people.
He said those infected included 110 female sex workers, 67 male sex workers, 240 men who have sex with men, eight transgender people, two people who inject drugs, 450 from the general population, 15 who regularly visit sex workers, 37 living together as unmarried partners and 26 people who had returned from abroad.
Dr Md Yunus Ali, an associate professor in the dermatology and venereology department of KMCH and the ART focal person, said people involved in unsafe sex — in brothels, mobile sex work and hotel-based settings — must be brought under regular testing. The more people are tested, the more cases will be identified and the clearer the true picture of infection will become, he said.
Khulna civil surgeon Dr Mahfuza Khatun said the government was providing free HIV testing and medicine at the KMCH ART centre, and that various non-governmental organisations were also working on the issue. There is no alternative to awareness in preventing this deadly disease, she said.
Khulna divisional health director Dr Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain said the government provided completely free HIV testing and treatment, and that the more people were tested, the clearer the true picture of infection would become. HIV cannot be controlled without raising awareness, he said, adding that the way case numbers were rising in Khulna was undoubtedly worrying and a warning sign for public health.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report