KULOB, July 15, 2014, Asia-Plus -- 61 new cases of HIV infection have been registered in the Kulob region of the southern Khatlon province over the first six months of this year, bringing a total number of HIV sufferers in the area to 809, according to the Kulob AIDS/HIV Prevention Center.

“Of those 61 new cases of HIV infection, 33 have been registered in the city and the district of Kulob, 10 have been registered in the Vose district and 8 cases have been registered in the Farkhor district,” the Kulob AIDS/HIV Prevention Center director, Toir Tumanov, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

Increase in the number of women of reproductive age having contracted HIV infection evokes serious concern, Tumanov said, adding that of those 61 newly registered HIV sufferers, 28 are women.

He also noted that the number of people contracting HIV infection through sexual activity had also increased in the area.  “People who have contracted HIV infection through sexual activity now constitute 44.2 percent of the overall number of HIV sufferers registered in the Kulob region,” Tumanov noted.

According to him, 201 HIV sufferers are currently undergoing medical treatment.  The first case of HIV infection was registered in the Kulob region in 2003 and 254 HIV sufferers have died in the Kulob region over the past decade.