The Director of the HIV/AIDS testing department at Wau Teaching Hospital in Western Bahr el Ghazal state has revealed that there is a marked increase in the infection rate in the state.
Linda Paul Joseph told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that there has been a recorded increase in infection rates since last year.
“Every month, there is a difference from past records. Between the month of November and December last year, you can find 9 or 15 new cases and in January 2022, it might be twenty,” she said.
The health worker said most of the people who tested positive are young people between 15 and 30 years.
“The young people, particularly those at the ages between 15 and 30 years are the people with a high rate of infections,” Ms. Paul said.
She said one of the main challenges is that most people fear being stigmatized by the community when they test positive.
“People are totally not accepting their results after testing (positive), Ms. Paul explained. “They do not want to accept the results and treatment because of stigma.”