Over 7,200 died of AIDS in India in two decades

July 12, 2005

India says over 7,200 died of AIDS in two decades

Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:40 AM GMT

By Krittivas Mukherjee

CALCUTTA, India (Reuters) - At least 7,200 people have died of AIDS

in India, the world's second worst affected nation, since an

official count began two decades ago, a top health official said on

Sunday.

The figure was a cumulative estimate which most likely suffered from

under-reporting, said S.Y. Qureshi, director of the state-run

National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) which deals with every

aspect of the disease in India.

" Till June, the number of dead from AIDS was about 7,200. This

cumulative figure is based on anonymous estimates, " he told Reuters.

" The actual casualty figure could be more, but what happens is that

many AIDS deaths are attributed to secondary causes like

tuberculosis. "

India's health department began keeping count of AIDS deaths in 1986.

Worldwide, about 39 million people have HIV/AIDS, including 25

million in sub-Saharan Africa.

NACO estimates said 1,114 people died of AIDS in 2004-05 and 1,514

the previous year in India.

The United Nations estimates around 5.1 million people are HIV-

infected in India, second only to South Africa.

Of them, NACO says around 103,000 people have full-blown AIDS.

Health NGO's believe the number is much higher.

Qureshi said his organisation went only by reported cases.

" There are many people who are completely unaware they have

HIV/AIDS. Then, the fear of stigma prevents many more from

disclosing they are infected or seeking treatment, " he said.

He estimates less than one percent of India's more than one billion

population could be infected with HIV, compared to some African

countries where the figure is as high as 30 percent.

" This, however, is not a consolation, " he said. " Even one percent of

our population is a huge number. "

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