With a prevalence rate of 0.76% among adults, third highest in the country, Nagaland has 22,878 'People living with HIV' (PLHIV) and AIDS cases. A study, conducted between early 1999 and 2018, has found that the Manipur has the highest HIV prevalence rate among adults in the country at 1.06%, followed by Mizoram at 0.79%. The good news is that the prevalence rate of HIV in the state has seen a declining trend over the years.

The country, as a whole, has 21.1 lakh PLHIV cases and nine states, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Rajasthan account for 82% of those cases.

In Nagaland, which has a population of around 20 lakh, 10,16,700 blood samples were screened between 1999 to 2018. Of that 22,878 have reported positive. In 91% of the cases in Nagaland, the route of virus transmission is unsafe sex, especially between the age group of 25 to 34 years. The prevalence rate of HIV among children below 14 years is 6%, while for youths aged between 15 and 24 years, it is 15%. Of the 22,878 people who tested positive in Nagaland, 16713 have registered for Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART). Altogether 1504 patients have died during this period.