by NR INDRAN / INT

Mumbai : A pan-India survey, conducted by Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. ahead of the‘World AIDS Day’ indicates that there is maximum incidence of HIVin both males and females within the age group less than 30 years. With atotal of 918, 277 people screened, the survey spans 8 major citiesnamely Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat & Kerala.The survey has been conducted across 3 tests namely Western Blot Test forHIV-1 specific & 2, HIV Proviral DNA – blood by PCR & HIV-DUO by CMIA (IVthGeneration test) that highlights the fact that incidence of HIV is moreprevalent in younger age groups which is highly alarming.

Accordingto the United Nations 2011 Aids Report, every day over 7,400 people are infectedwith HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS- related illnesses. Fortunately, there hasbeen a 50% decline in the number of new HIV infections in the last 10 years inIndia. (www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_FS_6_EN.pdf)

January 2010 – September 2011
City	Total number people screened	No. of people with normal results	No. of people with abnormal results	Break up of abnormality	Age wise abnormality breakup
Mumbai	9,09,013	8, 13, 391 (89.48%)	95, 622 (10.52%)	Male: 50,734 (53.05%) Female: 44,888 (46.96%)	0-30 years: 50,346 (52.65%) 30-40 years: 36,721 (38.41%) 40-50 years: 8, 555 (8.94%)
Noida	2,052	1,864 (90.83%)	188 (9.17%)	Male: 129 (68.62%) Female: 59 (31.38%)	0-30 years: 90 (47.87%) 30-40 years: 53 (28.19%) 40-50 years: 45 (23.94%)
Chennai	267	231 (86.51%)	36 (13.49%)	Male: 21 (58.33%) Female: 15 (41.66%)	0-30 years: 17 (47.22%) 30-40 years: 11(30.55%) 40-50 years: 8 (22.23%)
Kolkata	210	158 (75.23%)	52 (24.76%)	Male: 33 (63.46%) Female: 19(36.53%)	0-30 years: 19 (36.53%) 30-40 years: 19 (36.53%) 40-50 years: 9 (17.32%) 50+ years: 5 (9.62%)
Pune	435	333 (76.56%)	102 (23.44%)	Male: 55 (53.93%) Female: 46 (45.09%) Child: 1 (0.98%)	0-30 years: 39 (38.23%) 30-40 years: 54 (52.94%) 40-50 years: 8 (7.85%) 50+ years: 1 (0.98%)
Ahmedabad	26	15 (57.69%)	11 (42.31%)	Male: 6 (54.54%) Female: (45.46%)	0-30 years: 8 (72.72%) 30-40 years: Nil 40-50 years: 1 (9.09%) 50+ years: 2 (18.19%)
Surat	6,144	5,975 (97.24%)	169 (2.76%)	Male: 110 (65.09%) Female: 57 (33.72%) Child: 2 (1.19%)	0-30 years: 77 (45.56%) 30-40 years: 43 (25.44%) 40-50 years: 28 (16.58%) 50+ years:21 (12.42%)
Kerala	130	52 (40%)	78 (60%)	Male: 62 (79.48%) Female: 16 (20.52%)	0-30 years: 24 (30.78%) 30-40 years: 28 (35.89%) 40-50 years: 18 (23.08%) 50+ years:8 (10.25%)

Ithas been inferred that less than 30 years of age group are the maximumafflicted group. The confirmed cases with HIV infection is between 30 –40 years of age. It has been observed that HIV infection is predominant inmales over females i.e., ratio is 60 : 40 where the former is males and latteris females. Out of the screened positive tests, more than 50% are confirmedcases tested with Western Blot Test for HIV-1 specific & 2. Rate ofpositivity out of the screened tests is 10 % in Mumbai and Suratbut 30 – 40% at other places especially north. (due to thehigh awareness levels & rise in the number of HIV screenings conducted atMumbai and Surat than other parts of India)

Commentingon the survey, Dr. Mrs. Jatinder Bhatia, Chief of Lab Services, Projects– North India, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd said,” Globally,the incidence of HIV that was rapidly increasing between 1990-1996 has slowlydeclined between 1996-2010. Various treatment methods and awareness programshelped in controlling the disease by creating mass awareness, educating peopleabout safe sex and ill effects of HIV infection. As per the recent data, theincidence of HIV is maximum in younger age groups i.e. 20-30 years which is amajor concern”.

There have been recent advancesacross various fields focusing on the prevention, diagnostics & treatmentof this life-threatening disease. Overall, globally, with a healthy trend ofthe declining rate of HIV infections, individuals have become more aware of theill effects of the disease and therefore are more focused towards working onthe preventive measures to combat the disease.

MetropolisHealthcare Ltd. was founded by Dr. Sushil Shah in 1981. The Board of Directorsinclude Dr. Sushil Shah, Metropolis Healthcare is one of the India’sleading multinational chain of diagnostic centers across India, Sri Lanka,Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa and Middle East. It provides around 4500specialized tests under a single roof ranging from oncology to genetics,molecular biology and immunoassays using best-of-breed and latest diagnosticequipment. Metropolis Healthcare Ltd has also been recently voted as the solerecipient for the Frost & Sullivan – 2010 India Excellence in HealthcareAwards – Diagnostic Services Company of the Year. Ms. Ameera Shah has wonprestigious award in 2nd CMO Asia Award as Young Achiever of the year’2011& Franchisee India – Young Entrepreneur of the year 2011.eHealth World Expo2011 – has also awarded Metropolis Healthcare Ltd as “Best JuryAward” for ICT enabled diagnostic service provider for the project ITintegration of customer service management.

WarburgPincus, a leading global private equity firm, has recently invested up to $85million in Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. With 70 State of Art laboratories,Metropolis is a preferred referral center for more than 10000 laboratories,clinicians, hospitals and research institutions across 125 cities India. TheCAP, US FDA for the SMO services, NABL accredited and ISO 15189 certifiedMetropolis chain of laboratories has over 600 collection centers and is apreferred laboratory for providing quality testing to over 50, 000 Doctorsacross the country. Services include Clinical Referral Laboratory HospitalLaboratory Management, Preventive Health Checkups, Home Health Services, Site ManagementServices and Clinical Trials.

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