Epidemiological insights into HIV Prevalence and its Transmission pattern in Mizo tribal population of North East, India

Background: Mizoram has the highest incidence of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in India. India is having world’s third largest population of HIV seropositive and remains a public health problem. Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional analysis of HIV surveillance data collected at ART Plus Centre, Civil Hospital Aizawl, Mizoram. The statistical analysis was performed in SPSS® Statistics (V 27.0). Results: The gender distribution in this study is dominated by men, and the heterosexual contact is the leading mode of HIV transmission. Mizoram reported the highest national rates of HIV prevalence among FSWs and IDUs. ART adherence is better among females than male, and adherence rates are higher in older age groups than in younger ones. ART coverage is still high among elderly persons, despite their low HIV prevalence. Conclusions: The data shows that a significant proportion of individuals diagnosed with HIV in Mizoram are receiving ART. These patterns suggest that younger population are particularly vulnerable to HIV with poor adherence to ART, possibly due to social stigma, fear of discrimination, or lack of support systems.