HIV cases increasing in north Cyprus: Member of parliament claims, questions the deportation of HIV-positive individuals

The number of HIV-positive individuals is on the rise in north Cyprus despite the decline in developed countries said a member of the TRNC parliament on Wednesday who also criticized the deportation of HIV-positive individuals who are not citizens.

Independent MP Jale Refik Rogers made the statement in parliament on Wednesday December 18 during the debate on the Ministry of Health's budget.

Highlighting problems with infrastructure, Rogers said that with the increase in population, specialization in health has also increased, but the problems in the public's access to health continue.

She noted that while the number of HIV-positive individuals is declining in most developed countries in recent years, it is increasing in northern Cyprus. 

A study carried out by the Near East University found that the number of cases of HIV in north Cyprus had increased by 25 per cent in the three years to December last year, and that each HIV patient on the island of Cyprus infects an average of nine more people.

Rogers also criticized the TRNC's policy of deporting Turkish Cypriots who are diagnosed with HIV from the country.

The TRNC medical association has long called for blanket deportations to be brought to an end, with board member Nesil Bayraktar having previously described it as a “primitive practice”.

“As can be seen from the figures, the current practice has lost its effectiveness when we consider the public health and economic conditions, and has in fact had the opposite effect, preventing infected people from accessing treatment and being therefore inadequate in preventing transmission,” she said.

She added, “people living with HIV are stigmatised and discriminated against due to the structure of our society, and therefore they may tend to hide themselves.

“However, no health problem should lead to an ‘othering’ by society, and people’s human rights must be respected.”

The Joint United Nations programme on aids (UNAids) reported that there were around 39.9 million people worldwide living with HIV in 2023, of whom 1.3 million were newly infected that year.

Of that figure, 38.6 million were adults, 1.4 million were children, and around 53 per cent were women and girls. Additionally, around 86 per cent of all people living with HIV in 2023 knew their status, meaning that around 5.4 million people did not know they were living with HIV.

It also reported that 630,000 people globally died from aids-related illnesses in 2023, and that a total of 42.3 million people have died from such illnesses since the epidemic began in 1981.