Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a low prevalence country which is turning into one with a concentrated epidemic because of presence of variety and gravity of risk factors which cause the spread of HIV. In Bangladesh, the first HIV case was detected in 1989, and since then the cases have been steadily increasing, as have all the potential risk factors. The HIV prevalence in the general population appears low (<0.2%), and is estimated as <1% in all risk groups except for injecting drug users (7%). Modeling studies show that an uncontrolled HIV epidemic among drug injectors can accelerate the sexual epidemic and lead to a far greater number of sexually transmitted infections. Although the exact number of HIV cases is not known, by December 1, 2007, a total of 1,207 cases of HIV had been confirmed. Of these people, 365 cases had developed AIDS and 123 had died, a much higher number as compared to previous years.

The underlying causes of the epidemic include poverty, gender inequality and high mobility of the population, all of which are present in Bangladesh, a densely populated country with about 130 million inhabitants. Most people live in rural areas (76.6 per cent), but there is continuous migration to urban areas. Emigration to other countries for employment is also very common, particularly amongst younger people. If the transmission rate continues to increase, the situation will be uncontrolled. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive prevention programme to control the spread of HIV. This section links you to resources, news, events and organisations working on HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh.