HIV infection rates are on the rise in Timor-Leste according to Health Ministry data which shows 447 people were diagnosed with the disease from 2003 until July 2014.
Ministry of Health HIV/AIDS department chief Marta Alvenia dos Santos said the disease had been identified in children under five, teenagers and adults up to the age of 56.
“The virus is already in all thirteen districts, and as the researchers said, Dili has the most amount of cases, followed by Bobonaro and Baucau third,” she said.
However she warned the disease could affect anyone, not just those in the districts identified as most at risk.
She called for people to take precautions against the disease as many of those who tested positive for HIV failed to show up to subsequent medical appointments.
HIV blood tests were conducted by the Ministry of Health at health centres and referral hospitals around the country, Dos Santos said.
Those diagnosed with the disease were undergoing treatment at the National Hospital of Guido Valadares, the Bairo-Pite clinic and at the referral hospitals in Baucau, Suai, Maliana and Oe-Cusse.
National Commission for Combating HIV/AIDS (CNCS) general secretary Daniel Marcal said the disease was spread through sexual relations, contact with infected blood or syringes, and from mother to child through breast milk.
“We co-ordinate with the health ministry at the national and district levels across the whole country to spread a clear information to people so they know how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and how to prevent it,” he said.
There was no cure for the deadly disease, he said, making his work as leader of a team which provides information about HIV/AIDS to schools and the general public all the more important.
CNCS is in the process of working with the health ministry to extend HIV testing facilities to catch the virus early.
Bobonara district health director Vitor Soares Martins said 40 HIV patients had been identified in Maliana, one as young as 12.
“I also know Bobonaro, in the sub-district of Maliana has a large amount of HIV/AIDS patients as it is very close to Indonesian border so it’s easy for people to go out and come in,” he said.
