By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 10 Kyodo - Cambodians from a small village area who have tested positive for HIV now number 212, up from 82 discovered in the middle of last month, according to a statement released Saturday.
“Between 8 to 31 December, 2014, a total of 1,940 people from Roka Commune voluntarily undertook HIV testing and counseling and 212 people tested positive for HIV,” the joint statement released by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS.
Among the people who tested positive, 174 are from Roka Village.
And among the 212 diagnoses, 39 people are 14 years old or younger, 127 of them are between 15 and 59 years and 46 are 60 years old or older.
“The study showed that the percentage of people that reported receiving an injection or intravenous infusion as part of their health treatment was significantly higher among the people who tested positive for HIV than the people who were HIV negative,” the statement said.
It noted the percentage of HIV-positive people among those who reported engaging in unprotected sex or injecting drug use was not significantly higher than the number of people who reported not engaging in those activities.
It added that mother-to-child transmission was found unlikely as most of the children and young people who tested HIV positive had an HIV negative mother.
In an interview with Kyodo News on Dec. 16, Dr. Teng Kunthy, director general of the National AIDS Authority, said he was ”shocked” by the spread of HIV in Roka village, in a commune 8 kilometers southeast of Battambang provincial town in northwest Cambodia.
Teng Kunthy said he suspected the use of contaminated syringes for injections was a cause of the high proportion of HIV among village residents.
The statement released Saturday said the authorities are making all efforts to respond effectively to the needs of people who have tested HIV positive.
It said HIV treatment and care are available to residents of Roka Commune, which comprises six villages, at Roka Health Center in addition to the existing antiretroviral therapy services available at hospital in Battambang.
The statement added 161 people have registered for HIV care services and 78 started therapy between Dec. 22 and 31.
While investigation into the cause of the mass infection continues, a Cambodian court has already charged a medical practitioner with suspicion of spreading HIV among the villagers.
Yem Chrin, 56, who was detained by the police before he was charged Dec. 22, told the police he had repeatedly used syringes and needles when he treated patients in Roka Commune where he began his medical practice in 1996.
He is now under pre-trial detention.
Under Cambodian law if Yem Chrin is found guilty, he faces up to life in prison.
Neither Yem Chrin nor his family members have tested positive for HIV.
Tia Phall, vice president of the National Aids Authority, said about 70,000 Cambodians are living with HIV/AIDS and globally about 35 million people are living with the virus.
Mam Bunheng, minister of health, said Saturday that Cambodia has achieved a significant reduction in HIV prevalence and a high level of therapy for people living with HIV, which has been recognized internationally and led to a U.N. Millennium Development Goal award in 2010.
==Kyodo