Significant increase in HIV/AIDS cases in India

July 28, 2003

U.N. Warns India On AIDS Problem As New Figures Released

India today announced a significant increase in HIV/AIDS cases - 4.58

million at the end of 2002, up from 3.97 million the previous year - as the

United Nations warned the country to urgently implement prevention programs

to avert disaster.

" India has a king-sized problem, " said Piot, head of the Joint U.N.

Program on HIV/AIDS. " AIDS is spreading rapidly in the country. But it is

a problem with a solution. We can act now before it is too late. India has

the opportunity to turn around the epidemic, " he added (Agence

France-Presse/ News, July 25).

Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, project director of the National AIDS Control

Organization, said that in certain states in India, 1 percent of the

infected are pregnant women, and that the disease was " gradually spreading

into rural areas and the general population. " She added that the 2002

survey showed 61.5 percent of the infected population were males in India,

home to more than 1 billion people (AFP/ News, July 25).

Ghosh made her remarks on the eve of a Parliamentary Forum on HIV/AIDS to be

held in New Delhi beginning tomorrow that will bring together over 1,000

politicians from all levels of government across India.

" This convention is a historic event, " said Piot said. " Never before, in

any nation of the world, has there been such a large and committed gathering

of leaders for every level of decision-making dedicated to the common cause

of fighting AIDS. "

Conference participants are expected to sign a declaration underscoring

their commitment to fighting the epidemic. National goals will include

keeping infection rates low in the general population and decreasing

transmission to less than 1 percent, increasing awareness among youth to 90

percent and increasing condom use to 90 percent among high-risk groups

(UNAIDS release, July 25).

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