Sri Lanka reported 487 new HIV cases in the first six months of 2026, a 13.3% increase on the same period last year, according to the latest National STD/AIDS Control Programme figures.
The country recorded 249 new cases in the first quarter and a further 238 in the second, the Daily Mirror reported. The comparable 2025 figure was 430 — 230 in the first quarter and 200 in the second.
Men continued to account for most reported infections, with a male-to-female ratio of 7:1 in the second quarter of 2026.
Younger patients and other transmission routes
Among people aged 15 to 24, 55 HIV cases were reported in the first half of the year: 48 males, six females and one transgender person.
The programme recorded 117 HIV cases linked to mother-to-child transmission in its cumulative data, with no vertically transmitted cases reported in the fourth quarter of 2025.
A further 73 HIV-positive cases have been identified through the Immigration Health Unit, including nine during the second quarter of 2026.
Deaths
Eight AIDS-related deaths were reported across the first two quarters of 2026, four in each quarter.
The programme’s cumulative count of AIDS-related deaths has reached 820, with another 111 deaths classified as non-AIDS-related. Separately, the cumulative adjusted number of deaths among all reported HIV cases up to 2025 is given as 1,708. The three figures are compiled on different bases and are not intended to be added together.
The headline figure covers the first half of the year only; full-year 2026 data has not yet been published.