Mizoram launches HIV awareness and testing drive campaign

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Tuesday inaugurated the Intensified IEC Campaign on HIV and the HIV Test Drive Campaign 2025, a state-wide effort to expand awareness and ensure wider testing coverage in the fight against one of India’s highest HIV infection rates.

The programme comes despite decades of awareness drives, with officials alarmed that risky behaviours continue unabated.

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Health Minister Lalrinpuii, attending as guest of honour, said that in 2024–25, sexual transmission accounted for 68.13% of new HIV cases, while 29.25% were linked to the sharing of needles among injecting drug users. Together, these two factors made up 97.38% of all new infections.

“Many people testing positive are already aware of how HIV spreads, yet continue engaging in high-risk activities,” Lalrinpuii said.

Mizoram has long grappled with the twin challenges of substance abuse and unsafe sex, a combination that has kept its HIV prevalence well above the national average.

Since the first reported case in 1990, the state has recorded 32,994 HIV-positive individuals. In 2024–25 alone, 2,471 new cases were detected, including 140 pregnant women, raising concerns about mother-to-child transmission. Officials estimate that 97% of HIV infections in the state are preventable.

Lalduhoma urged people to reject drug use and unprotected sex, and appealed to those living with HIV to act responsibly in preventing transmission. He called on church leaders, community organisations, health workers, and the influential Young Mizo Association to take an active role in prevention efforts, noting that the primary causes of infection go against the Christian values upheld by most of the state’s population.

Under the new campaign, awareness programmes and testing drives will cover all 88 villages across Mizoram’s 11 districts, with the aim of achieving near-universal testing.

Mizoram continues to be ranked among India’s top five states for effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care delivery.

Mizoram has consistently reported the highest HIV prevalence rate in India. National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) data shows that the state’s adult prevalence rate is more than 10 times the national average.