ALMOST 1,200 new cases of HIV/AIDS were diagnosed in Jamaica last year as the number of persons across the island living with the disease climbed to 26,426.
This moved the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence to 1.8 per cent in the general population, up from 1.7 in 2017.
The figures are contained in the 2018 Economic & Social Survey Jamaica published by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
It noted that 621, or 52 per cent, of the 1,197 new HIV/AIDS cases recorded in Jamaica last year were males, with persons in the 20 to 39 age group accounting for the largest share.
More females living with HIV/AIDS were found in the age group 20-29 years, while males dominated the 30–39 age group.
The PIOJ noted that the national HIV response continues to work towards the World Health Organization’s “90-90-90”treatment targets by 2020, where 90 per cent of people who are HIV positive should know their status; 90 per cent of those diagnosed should be retained in care on anti-retroviral (ARV); and 90 per cent of those on ARV should be virally suppressed.
So far Jamaica has managed to ensure that approximately 78 per cent of the estimated number of persons living with HIV has been diagnosed while 37 per cent of that total is getting treatment.
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