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COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka account for 3.6 lakh HIV cases , about 50% of the patients in the country. The southern states are also among the top four in the country, with Tamil Nadu alone having 80,685 HIV affected people of the total 7.7 lakh as on May 2014.Andhra Pradesh (including Telengana) tops the list with 1.7 lakh HIV affected people, followed by Maharashtra with 1.43 lakh people. Karnataka has just over one lakh people with HIV, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare. These are the only states with more than one lakh people with HIV.After Tamil Nadu’s 80,000-odd cases, Gujarat is listed with 40,121 cases. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which are larger both in area and population, have not recorded many cases.The rising numbers in the southern states are attributed to efficient screening over the last few years, said experts.“The southern states have taken AIDS awareness and prevention very seriously in the last five years. The state governments along with non-governmental organizations have ensured compulsory screening up to the village level, which has resulting in better documentation and recording of HIV cases,” said Vijay Raman, deputy director of Voluntary Health Services, a non-profit multi-specialty hospital in Tamil Nadu.Though the cumulative numbers are high in the south, the number of fresh cases being recorded every year has dropped significantly since 2010. According to the health ministry, the total number new cases has reduced almost 50% across the country in three years—from 3.1 lakh fresh cases in 2010-11 to 1.5 lakh cases in 2013-14. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also saw a sharp fall in the number of fresh cases reported every year.The drop in the number of fresh cases is due to the increasing awareness among the public, especially the risk-prone communities of sex workers, homosexuals and transgenders, said Bakthavatchalam A, deputy director of Association for Rural Mass India, a non-profit organization working in the health sector.