AIDS Center Calls on Population to Get HIV Test

The Infectious Pathology and AIDS Center of Georgia is calling on the population to get a HIV test after 433 new HIV/AIDS cases were revealed in the country from January 2018 to August 20.

The center says that last year there were 404 new cases in the same period. In January-June 2018, there were 397 new cases. It means that from June 30 to August 20,  36 new cases were revealed in Georgia.

As epidemiologist doctor Otar Chokoshvili says, the main cause of the increase is late diagnosis.

Most cases of HIV/AIDS are registered in Tbilisi - 2622 cases, 87 among these patients are foreign citizens and 2 persons are unidentified; In Samegrelo - 914 cases (Zugdidi - 605), Imereti - 898 (Kutaisi 436), Adjara - 813 (Batumi - 512), breakaway Abkhazia - 451, Kakheti - 348, Kvemo Kartli - 373, Shida Kartli - 271, Guria - 153, Poti - 110, Samtskhe-Javakheti – 100.

“The disease is not spreading rapidly in Georgia, as it is in many EU states, but it is important to get the test, as this disease has no early symptoms,” the doctor stated.

By Thea Morrison

Related story:

397 New Cases of HIV/AIDS Revealed in Georgia in 2018

Number of HIV/AIDS Cases up in Georgia