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Published : 05 Jun 2026, 11:43 AM
Cumilla has reported three deaths linked to HIV infection or AIDS in May, pushing the district’s death toll to seven this year.
Officials have also recorded 385 people living with HIV under treatment in the district.
The deaths occurred on May 8, 13, and 25, a counsellor at Cumilla Medical College Hospital's HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC) and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Centre said on Thursday.
Md Arif Hasan, counsellor-cum-admin at the centre, said the victims were aged between 20 and 50, all residents of Cumilla.
A relative of one of the dead said the patient had worked at a factory in the Cumilla Export Processing Zone (EPZ).
The person was diagnosed as HIV-positive at a hospital in Dhaka and another family member was later found to have contracted the virus.
Data from the hospital’s HTC and ART Centre show that two people died from HIV-related illnesses in January, one in March and one in April.
The district currently has 385 people receiving treatment for HIV.
So far this year, 37 people have tested positive for HIV from 672 samples examined. Several of them have also been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB).
Arif said 278 people had tested HIV-positive from 6,646 tests conducted between 2019 and this year.
During the same period, 46 people died while 13 discontinued treatment, he added.
According to him, the pattern of transmission has shifted in recent years. While blood-borne infections were previously more common, most newly detected cases are linked to sexual transmission.
Among those diagnosed, 91 reported a history of sex between men, 40 were male sex workers, 49 were returnee migrants, 41 contracted the virus from a spouse and 21 were infected through female sex workers.
Others fall into different high-risk categories.
Counsellor Hasan said HIV testing and medication are provided free of charge at government hospitals and that regular treatment can keep the disease under control.
He also said some healthcare workers at the centre have gone without salaries and allowances for an extended period, although they continue to provide services.
