Ahmedabad: ‘HIV spread among sex workers declining’

[Guest guest]

`HIV spread among sex workers declining'

Study was conducted by women's organisation and Ahmedabad Municipal

Corporation AIDS Control Society.

Tanvir Siddiqui

Ahmedabad, May 11: THE PREVALENCE of sexually transmitted infections

(STI) and HIV among female sex workers here has shown significant

reduction in 2003 from the baseline levels of a 2000 study.

This is thanks to early awareness initiatives and resultant change

in behaviour pattern of high risk groups, says the recently

concluded study.

The study was conducted jointly by Jyoti Sangh, a women's

organisation, and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation AIDS Control

Society. Technical assistance was provided by Sexual Health Research

Centre, New Delhi, and the study was funded by the British High

Commission's Department for International Development.

``The study will be repeated after two to three years to see the

impact of the intervention targetted at sex workers in the city,''

said Dr Laxman Malodia, project director of AMCACS, adding, that

there can be no room for complacency as the number of HIV cases

could still be high due to addition of newer cases each year.

He said reaching out to the target audience would not have been

possible without active police support. ``Controlling prostitution

and controlling HIV among sex workers are two opposite-end

exercises; if one is achieved, the other can't be. If the polices

conduct raids, prostitutes disappear and cannot be helped by AIDS

control societies. So the co-operation of police is essential,'' he

said.

According to Dr D M Saxena, director of Gujarat State AIDS Control

Society, Surat with its variety of migrant population, tops the list

of cities in Gujarat in terms of HIV and STI prevalence. Prevalence

in Ahmedabad and Vadodara are about the same.

Both Saxena and Malodia say that the number of AIDS cases per se

would not go down but the incidence could well be controlled with

the help of effective preventive measures like condom promotion.

``The HIV positive state is irreversible but we can hope to check

its prevalence through effecting change in behaviour patterns by

creating awareness among target groups,'' said Saxena.

As per findings of HIV sero-surveillance data over the years, HIV

prevalence in the city noted in 2000 was 0.5 per cent among ante

natal women who came to clinics and it fell to 0.25 per cent in

2004. In 2000, the HIV prevalence in those who attended STI clinics

was 7.2 per cent and it declined to 4.3 per cent in 2004, the study

notes.

The study also notes significant change in sexual behaviour among

sex workers and increase in safe sex practices among them and their

clients. It says that 27.1 per cent CSWs had sex with less than two

partners per day in 2000 and this number went up to 39.7 per cent in

2004. As many as 41.4 per cent CSWs had sex with two to five

partners daily in 2000 and this came down to 36.9 per cent in 2004.

Also, there is a significant drop in CSWs having sex with more than

five partners per day. It was 30.2 per cent in 2000 and fell to 23.4

per cent in 2004, the study reveals.

Percentage of those using condoms regularly has gone up from 32 per

cent in 2000 to 79 per cent in 2004, it says

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