Ludhiana (Punjab): Punjab is known for the drug menace in the state. As a fallout, the cases of HIV are on the rise, while the number of women booked for drug-related crimes is also increasing. According to the National Crime Records Bureau report, which was released in December, Punjab ranked first in cases of possession of drugs for trafficking in 2022.
Meanwhile, while HIV is becoming a serious concern all over the world, the number of patients is steadily increasing in India. According to the data released by the Punjab State AIDS Control Society and National AIDS Control Programme in 2019, there are a total of 21.40 lakh HIV-positive cases across the country, of which there were 36,794 in Punjab.
According to the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) by the end of 2022, about 39 million people worldwide were suffering from HIV. According to statistics released in 2022, the number of people, who died of HIV was 6.30 lakhs, while the number of people, who overcame HIV was around 13 lakhs.
Similarly, there is a continuous increase in HIV cases in Punjab. According to the data released by the Punjab government in the past, a total of 33,682 prisoners were examined under the campaign against diseases in jails. Out of these 923 prisoners were found to be HIV positive. Apart from this, patients were found to be suffering from many other serious diseases, among which 143 were TB patients.
Apart from this, 43 patients had hepatitis C and 4,846 patients were found to be suffering from Hepatitis B. "Not only the youths, but also young women of Punjab are getting trapped in the swamp of drugs. Another victim claimed she had even murdered to fulfil her drug addiction, for which she was released from jail after serving a six-year sentence.
However, Dr Harsimran Kaur, a psychiatrist at Ludhiana Civil Hospital's de-addiction centre, believes that awareness has increased among people, due to which the number of cases is increasing due to more testing. She said that it needs to be taken with positive thinking. "Young people often share injectable drugs, which spreads HIV. Tests in this regard are also conducted in the government de-addiction centres of the state, she added.
Dr Inderjit Dhingra, who is continuously working against the drug menace, said awareness is very important. Dr Inderjit added now along with the youth, young children are also being addicted to drugs.
Dr Dhingra added that crime is continuously increasing in Punjab for the supply of drugs and diseases are also spreading among the youth. He added that when he started his centre in 2008, at that time only 200 to 300 youths were trapped in the mire of drugs and now this number reached 7,000 to 8,000 in Ludhiana alone.
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