Mumbai tops state AIDS death numbers: Report Thane, Nov 30: AIDS has claimed 1,019 lives in Mumbai, nearly one-third of the total 3,049 deaths due to the disease recorded in Maharashtra till the end of May this year, according to an official report.
Instances of AIDS deaths are alarming in Sangli and Kolhapur districts on account of migration from neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the report said. Up to 49,753 people have tested positive for HIV in the state by end of May, 2006, S M Tonpe, resident medical officer of the Thane Civil Hospital, said quoting the report here at a press conference today on the eve of World AIDS Week celebration. Of the 3,049 deaths, 2,181 were males and 868 females, he said, adding that Thane, Pune, Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli districts recorded more than 100 deaths each. Bhandara was the only district in the state not to record any death. Ulhas Wagh, who is coordinating the district AIDS Control Programme, said there were 165 aids deaths in thane between August 1986 and May 2006. He said 2,370 people, including 26 non-Maharashtrians and four foreigners, had died of AIDS in the state by May end 2005. He said most cases were reported in border areas due to movement of floating workers and truck drivers. He said the 'Saathi' project for sex workers undertaken in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi, where maximum number of people from other states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Kartnataka and Andhra Pradesh live, had been effective till now. Bureau Report -- www.gaybombay.in www.gaybombay.info
