63 Rohingyas infected with HIV: Health minister

Some sixty-three Rohingya people, who have taken shelter in Bangladesh, are HIV-infected patients, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim told Parliament yesterday.

“Now, there're 4,662 HIV-infected patients in our country. Of them, 63 are from the Rohingya community,” he said replying to a tabled starred question from treasury bench MP Shamsul Hoque Chowdhury (Chittagong-12).

As of October 2017, 5,586 patients were detected with HIV positive, and 924 of them have already died, the minister said.

Nasim said the government is now providing services to HIV-infected patients free of cost. The services include HIV test, free medicines and counseling.

Besides, different non-government organisations, national and international agencies provide services to HIV patients, he said.

The minister said the government has a plan to set up HIV Test Centres (HTC) in 23 prioratised districts, provide necessary basic trainings over HIV/AIDS and provide camp-based healthcare facilities.