Men who have sex with men are the main people being affected by HIV in Dominica, National epidemiologist Dr. Paul Ricketts, has revealed.
Speaking at a National Health Symposium on Thursday morning, he however warned that women are also being infected with the deadly virus, which causes AIDS.
He revealed that up to end of 2012, as many as 400 Dominicans have been tested positive for HIV.
“The majority of persons who have tested positive have been male but we also do have females being tested positive,” he said. “So this not just an epidemic affecting men who have sex with men, although men who have sex with men are the main people affected in our epidemic here in Dominica.”
He pointed out that over the past five years there has been “an upward trend” in the number of people who have tested positive for the the virus.
He said this is due to an increased amount of people being tested through various campaigns and the availability of free rapid testing on the island.
Ricketts said since the introduction of retroviral therapy in 2004 there has been a rapid decline of deaths related to HIV and AIDS, but warned that within the last few years there has been a slight increase.
“We are still investigating the rationale or the reason behind this but we do have a well organized, well structured treatment and care program,” he said.
