India Facing 'Monstrous' AIDS Crisis Without Government Intervention

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India Facing 'Monstrous' AIDS Crisis Without Government

Intervention

India is one of the top global areas where AIDS " is likely to

explode " as it has in sub-Saharan Africa unless the government takes

swift and " bold " action, according to U.N. officials, Salon.com

reports. With its " chronic shortages of water, dangerous levels of

pollution, horrific urban sanitary conditions, a deteriorating

public health system, and an ever-increasing number of people living

in poverty, " Salon.com says, " t's no wonder that AIDS in India has

begun to match the fears of international health officials who have

been predicting a monstrous crisis. " While the Indian government

reports only 87,000 AIDS cases nationwide, UNAIDS estimates the

actual number to be 3.7 million. But with a lack of mandatory

reporting and very few AIDS treatment centers for HIV-positive

Indians to receive treatment, the " actual number of people infected

in India is anyone's guess, " Salon.com says. Physicians at YRG Care

in Madras, one of the nation's few AIDS research and treatment

clinics, call the 3.7 million figure " conservative, " noting that the

center " routinely discovers " three or four cases of HIV in a sample

of 60 to 70 people when doctors perform basic health checkups in

Madras slums. A " suffocating class system and the deteriorating and

overburdened public health infrastructure are only part of the

problem, " Salon.com says, adding that many blame the epidemic on

India's middle class and its " conservative " government, while others

blame it on " certain social evils. " Without government intervention,

the HIV/AIDS rate in India may soon " compete with the horrendous

state of affairs in sub-Saharan Africa " (McColly, Salon.com, 8/22).

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KAISER DAILY HIV/AIDS REPORT: Friday, August 24, 2001

A free service of kaisernetwork.org

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv.cfm

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