Datanomics: Injecting drug users remain at highest HIV risk in India

India marks World AIDS Day with HIV prevalence at 0.2%, highest among injecting drug users, even as Mizoram continues to report rates far above the national average

World AIDS Day, observed on December 1, is a reminder to renew efforts to prevent and create awareness about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and HIV, and also to take decisive action to combat the stigma surrounding them. In 2024, those injecting intoxicating non-medical drugs were the most at-risk group for HIV in India. According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), around 2.5 million people are living with the virus in the country. 

Groups at high risk

 

Transgender individuals were the second at-most risk group for HIV in India, after injecting drug users. The prevalence of HIV in the community has halved to 3.3 per cent in 2024 from 7.2 per cent in 2015. 

 

Northeast tops in HIV prevalence

 

Mizoram has the highest HIV prevalence in India, rising marginally to 2.73 per cent in 2023 from 2.61 per cent in 2019 — around 13 times the national average of 0.2 per cent. 

 

Neighbourhood watch

 

India’s HIV prevalence declined to 0.2 per cent by 2024, remaining consistently below the global average over the years. Bangladesh reports an even lower prevalence at 0.1 per cent.