India's New HIV Infections Rising: World Bank

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India's New HIV Infections Rising: World Bank

Fri Aug 13, 2004 11:38 AM ET

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The number of Indians with HIV infection could

rise to 5.5 million a year by 2033 -- more than the total number of

existing cases -- unless urgent steps are taken, the World Bank said

on Friday.

Without a change in treatment policy and progress in prevention,

HIV/AIDS will become the single largest cause of death in the

world's second most populous nation, accounting for 17 percent of

all deaths and 40 percent of infectious deaths, by 2033, the bank

said in a report on HIV/AIDS in India.

HIV/AIDS currently accounts for two percent of all deaths and six

percent of infectious deaths.

" Antiretroviral therapy is not going to have a big impact on the

course of the epidemic, " Heywood, World Bank health specialist

and one of the authors of the report, told reporters.

" What will have an impact, however, is the use of condoms and

prevention. "

India has the largest number of people with HIV/AIDS outside South

Africa and experts fear it could soon vault to the top of the

world's list. Knowledge about the illness is still scant, and most

Indians who are infected do not know it.

According to the government, the number of people living with

HIV/AIDS in India rose to 5.1 million in 2003.

The government has a national program to combat the problem but

HIV/AIDS has spread beyond traditionally high-risk groups such as

prostitutes, drug users and homosexuals.

Experts say the most alarming trend is the spread of the disease to

the countryside, with rural India accounting for a high 59 percent

of infections compared with 41 percent in the cities.

Last month, Human Rights Watch said the government was ignoring the

plight of hundreds of thousands of children with HIV/AIDS and

turning a blind eye to widespread discrimination.

Hundreds of thousands of Indian children in India have HIV/AIDS and

many more are orphaned or forced to withdraw from school to care for

sick parents. Yet they are " nearly invisible " in the government's

response to the epidemic, Human Rights Watch said.

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