Twenty-eight people have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and one person died from HIV infection in Rajshahi in the past 11 months.
Most of the people infected with HIV are between 20 and 35 years old. A high rate of HIV infections among young people is causing concern. Data from the past six years shows that the number of HIV cases has risen steadily.
Health officials say that HIV has spread more through homosexuality than sexworkers. Over the past six years, 93 people have been infected with HIV, and eight have died of AIDS. Every day, an average of 10 to 15 people come to HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC) Centre at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital to get tested.
As drugs are not available here, HIV-positive patients in Rajshahi Division go to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra for treatment and free drugs.
On 4 November, four people came to HTC Centre for HIV test. But three of them tested negative. According to HTC Centre data, 77 samples were tested in 2019, and none was positive. In 2020, HIV was detected in two of the 321 samples tested. In 2021, out of 1,527 samples, eight tested positive, and one patient died.
In 2022, eight of 2,031 people tested positive, and one died. In 2023, 24 of 2,360 people tested positive, and that year saw three deaths. In 2024, 27 of 3,532 people tested positive, and three patients died. In 2025, up to October, 2,346 samples were tested. Of them, 28 people have tested positive—the highest so far—with one death recorded in March.
Analysis of the data shows that HIV spread is highest through homosexual contact, followed by sex workers. Among the 27 HIV-positive cases in 2024, 16 were infected through homosexual contact, 10 were sex workers, and one was infected through blood. That year, 23 men and 4 women tested positive. A total of 3,532 samples were tested: 1,231 men, 2,150 women, and 151 Hijras.
In 2025, 17 were infected through homosexual contact, 10 were sex workers, and one through blood. This year, 25 men, 2 women, and 1 Hijra tested positive. A total of 2,346 samples were tested.
A HIV-positive patient, speaking anonymously, said:“I’ve been positive for a long time. But HIV medicines are not available in Rajshahi hospital. If you test positive, you must go to Bogra for treatment and free medicines. That trip is time-consuming. If medicines were available in Rajshahi, it would help patients a lot.”
He further said, “HIV spreads in several ways. It spread to me somehow. When I found out I was HIV-positive, I felt like a criminal. I thought of committing suicide. At times, I even felt like spreading it to others. By following doctors’ advice and taking drugs regularly, I am doing better now.”
Doctors at RMCH say that an initiative is underway to open an ART (antiretroviral therapy) centre at RMCH. Once operational, patients from Rajshahi and nearby districts will no longer have to travel to Bogra for treatment.
Rezaul Karim, counsellor at HTC Centre, said:“HIV testing began at RMCH in January 2019, but full operations started in August. In six years, we have tested 12,464 samples. Of these, 93 were positive, and 8 HIV-positive patients died. An additional 30 HIV-positive individuals are receiving treatment elsewhere.”
He also said, “Patients become mentally devastated. Some think of suicide. Some feel an urge to infect others out of frustration. We advise them to visit the HTC Center regularly, and they do.”
Dr. Ibrahim Md. Sharaf, focal person for the HTC Centre, said:“One of the primary ways HIV spreads through unprotected and high-risk sexual contact—whether between men and women or between men. HIV can also spread from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.”
