KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Afghan health officials say at least 286 cases of HIV have been recorded in the country since March 2025, including 86 cases registered during the past five months.
According to TOLOnews, officials at the Afghan-Japan Hospital in Kabul said the number of newly identified HIV cases has increased significantly compared with previous years.
Mohammad Khan Hedayat, head of the hospital’s HIV/AIDS department, said 81 patients were recorded throughout 2022, while 200 cases were registered during the following year. He added that 86 patients had tested positive in the past five months.
Figures released last year showed that more than 82,000 people had been tested for HIV between the beginning of 2025 and the end of October, with about 300 testing positive.
Dina Patel, a former HIV project manager with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said last year that global estimates suggested around 13,000 people were living with HIV in Afghanistan, although only a portion had been identified. She said many people living with the virus were unaware of their status.
Health officials and UN agencies have identified people who inject drugs and share needles, as well as prisoners, among groups particularly affected by HIV in Afghanistan. UNDP says the country’s HIV epidemic remains relatively low in overall prevalence but is concentrated among key populations, particularly people who inject drugs.
HIV is transmitted through infected blood, sexual contact and from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. While there is currently no cure that eliminates HIV from the body, antiretroviral treatment can suppress the virus and allow people living with HIV to live longer and healthier lives.
Afghanistan has faced persistent challenges in providing HIV testing, treatment and prevention services, particularly amid its broader humanitarian and health-system crisis. UNDP, through funding from the Global Fund, supports HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes across all 34 provinces. In 2025, the programme enrolled 1,743 people living with HIV in antiretroviral treatment, while HIV prevention and testing services were also provided to people who inject drugs and prisoners.
The United Nations has also warned that access to HIV services can be particularly difficult for vulnerable and mobile populations. In response to the large-scale return of Afghans from Pakistan, the Global Fund and UNDP have provided HIV testing, counselling and treatment services at border points and to returnees.
Stigma surrounding HIV remains another barrier to diagnosis and treatment. UNAIDS says reducing stigma and discrimination and expanding access to testing and treatment are important components of an effective HIV response.
