From mirror
site
Box Three
HIV/AIDS in India
-
India is experiencing rapid and extensive spread of HIV. This is
particularly
worrisome since India is home to a population of over 900 million. As a
single
nation it has more people than the continents of Africa, Australia and
Latin
America combined.
-
There are an estimated 2 to 5 million people infected with HIV in India
today,
and 50,000 to 100,000 cases of AIDS may have already occurred in the
country.
-
This epidemic is fueled by both married and unmarried men visiting sex
workers.
-
The most rapid and well-documented spread of HIV has occurred in Bombay
and the
State of Tamil Nadu. In Bombay HIV prevalence has reached the level of 50
percent in sex workers, 36 percent in STD patients and 2.5 percent in
women
attending antenatal clinics.
-
Certain regions, such as eastern India (Calcutta area) and northern India
(New
Delhi region), still show a lower prevalence of HIV (1 to 2 percent) among
sex
workers.
-
Contrary to traditional belief, sexually transmitted diseases and sex with
multiple partners are common in the country, both in urban and rural
areas. An
estimated 3 to 4 percent of some rural populations have a sexually
transmitted
disease.
-
Injecting drug use is a problem in Manipur, which is in the North East
region,
where 55 percent of drug users are HIV-infected and 1 percent of women
attending
antenatal clinics are infected with HIV.
- HIV is rapidly spreading to rural areas through migrant workers and
truck
drivers. Surveys show that 5 to 10 percent of some truck drivers in the
country
are infected with HIV.
-
An estimated 1 to 2 million cases of tuberculosis occur in India every
year. In
Bombay 10 percent of the patients presenting with tuberculosis are
HIV-positive.
Tuberculosis is the presenting symptom of AIDS in over 60 percent of
AIDS
cases.
-
A major international and governmental effort is necessary to respond
effectively to this severe epidemic.