India has most people with HIV (Aids)

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I am not here to gloat.

Aids is a horrible disease.

But I am just wondering why does India have such a high rate of AIDS and where as its neighbours such as Bangladesh and Pakistan have such miniscule numbers of people infected with AIDS?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5030184.stm

India now has more people living with HIV than any other country, a UNAids report has revealed.

The report shows that India now accounts for two-thirds of HIV cases in the whole of Asia.

An estimated 5.7 million Indians were infected by the end of 2005, overtaking the 5.5 million cases estimated in South Africa.

However, While 18.8% of South African adults were living with HIV, the figure in India was 0.9%.

Estimates of total deaths in India since Aids was first identified in 1981 range from 270,000 to 680,000.

Most of the infections there were caused by unprotected heterosexual intercourse, according to UNAids.

States in southern India have traditionally been the hardest hit by the disease.

A study of prostitutes in Tamil Nadu found 50% had been infected with HIV.

However, UNAids said these regions had made progress in combating the spread of infection.

In contrast, little or no progress had been made in cutting infection rates in the north of the country, where injecting drug use is thought to be the main driver of infection.

The UN agency estimates that only 7% of Indians who needed antiretroviral drug therapy actually received it last year.

In addition, only 1.6% of pregnant women who needed treatment to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission were receiving it.

UNAids also sounded a warning about neighbouring Pakistan, where around 85,000 people were estimated to be infected with HIV by the end of 2005.

It said the country would have to improve its prevention efforts if it is to avoid a more serious situation.

China

The report said that China had improved the way it monitors HIV.

Health experts had feared that failure to acknowledge the growing problem of HIV in the country would hamper efforts to combat the spread of infection.

But UNAids said it had now been able to estimate the number of cases in the country - 650,000 - with some degree of confidence.

The report estimated that 45% of injecting drug users and 25% of sex workers are now being targeted by prevention programmes in the country.

However, it estimated that just 8% of male heterosexuals were being reached by prevention programmes in 2005.

It is thought that around 25% of people with HIV in China receive antiretroviral drugs - above the Asian average of 16%.

The report also highlights significant progress in Thailand, which threatened to become an HIV black spot.

The prevalence rate in the country is now 1.6% - a third lower than in the previous decade.

It is thought prevention efforts have encouraged men to stop buying sex. Condom use has also increased.

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Re: India has most people with HIV (Aids)

oooo.... so finally India surpassed Africa

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Re: India has most people with HIV (Aids)

Unprotected sex , mainly spread by truck drivers who engage with prostitutes.

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Re: India has most people with HIV (Aids)

Too many sex partners
Too much infidelity
Too much Drug and needle usage
Too many visits to prostitutes
Too much prmoiscuity.

… INDIA is epicenter of AIDS.The UN estimates that India has the highest number of HIV infections of any nation, 5.7 million people.

Clinton warns India over HIV/Aids

Bill Clinton with some of India’s child sufferers of HIV/Aids

Bill Clinton interview
Former United States President Bill Clinton says India is now the epicentre of the global HIV/Aids epidemic.
Mr Clinton described the challenge to control the spread of HIV in India as a “breathtaking” but said there was still time to limit the impact of the virus.

Mr Clinton, whose foundation is active in fighting HIV, made his comments in a BBC interview to mark World Aids Day.

The UN estimates that India has the highest number of HIV infections of any nation, 5.7 million people,

Commitment needed

“When you’ve got a billion people, and they are as disparate as the Indians are - disparate languages, different living conditions, different income and education levels - the education challenge and the challenge to overcome the stigma of discrimination is breathtaking,” Mr Clinton told the BBC’s Damian Grammaticas.

HAVE YOUR SAY

I highly appreciate the efforts made by Bill Clinton and also Bill Gates to tackle the HIV/Aids epidemic

But he said that India’s successes in other areas augured well for the challenges ahead.

"If [Indians] will just apply the same commitment and ingenuity to dealing with this that they did to developing and information technology economy, then they’ll have the same results.

“This is not rocket science. We know what to do,” he said.

HIV in India has already spread beyond high risk groups such as prostitutes.

Migrant workers who travel from remote villages looking for work in the cities are spreading the virus to every corner of the country, our correspondent says.

Even a small further increase in infection rate could mean that up to 25 million Indians contract HIV in the coming years.

On Thursday, Mr Clinton gave details of a new initiative in which two Indian companies will supply 19 antiretroviral drugs for HIV-infected children at a greatly reduced price.

More than 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV/Aids, the UN says.

The cheap drugs, according to the statement, will be available in 62 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean.

The Clinton Foundation, set up in 2002, aims to provide technical and financial help to poorer countries struggling to stop the spread of HIV/Aids.