Women and HIV in India

[Guest guest]

HEALTH

The Pioneer March 8, 2002

Women are becoming increasingly affected by HIV. About 42 per cent of estimated

cases are women, and the number of infected women touched 15 million by the year

2000. One in 13 women in India dies from pregnancy or childbirth related causes.

Awareness of AIDS among women has increased but it is still quite low - 40 per

cent nationwide. One-third of women, who have heard of it, do not know ways to

avoid it. Awareness is lowest in Bihar (12 percent) and also Uttar Pradesh (20

percent).

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Dr.Jagdish Harsh ( jharsh@... )

Director of Administration and Operations

François-Xavier Bagnoud (INDIA) ( www.fxb.org )

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[Guest guest]

This is in response to the Pioneer article (March 8, 2002) which states that

" women are becoming increasingly affected by HIV. About 42 per cent of

estimated cases are women, and the number of infected women touched 15

million by the year 2000. One in 13 women in India dies from pregnancy or

childbirth related causes. Awareness of AIDS among women has increased but

it is still quite low - 40 per cent nationwide. One-third of women, who have

heard of it, do not know ways to avoid it. Awareness is lowest in Bihar (12

percent) and also Uttar Pradesh (20 percent) " .

The data presented in this article is quite confusing.

15m infected women ..... is this India?

1 in 13 women, approx 8% in India die of child birth related problem.... is

it true? I think, it is around 0.4%. Writing in media with incorrect infromation

can be disastrous. Could we ask the newspaper for clarification ?

Dr. Ashok Kumar Agarwal, MBBS, MD

Technical Advisor- HIV/AIDS

Catholic Relief Services

4/2 Orient Row, Kolkata - 700 017. India

Tel. No. 91-33-247 6433/1969

Fax No. 91-33-240 8652

E-mail : drashok@...

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