38% HIV-hit in India are women

November 22, 2006

Kounteya Sinha, [22 Nov, 2006 0112hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: More than 38% of those living with HIV in India are women,

most having acquired the virus from regular partners who were

infected during paid sex. According to the 2006 AIDS epidemic update

compiled by UNAIDS and WHO, which was released on Tuesday,

unprotected heterosexual intercourse is the cause for the bulk of HIV

infections in India.

Over 5.7 million of the 8.6 million people living with HIV in Asia

are from India, most of them adults aged between 15 and 49. According

to the report, India is experiencing a highly varied HIV epidemic

which appears to be stable or diminishing in some parts while growing

at a modest rate in others. In some rural areas, the prevalence of

HIV ranges between 1.1% and 6.4% among adults, underlying the varied

character of the epidemic.

Six of the country's 28 states account for nearly two-thirds of the

HIV cases, the highest prevalence rates being found in the Mumbai-

Karnataka corridor, Nagpur, the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu,

coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Manipur and Nagaland. Risk-taking

during paid sex is commonplace in India. This, despite surveys

showing that 54% and 49% of sex workers in Mumbai and Pune

respectively are HIV positive.

The report says despite the fact that very little research has been

done on gays in India, the data collected has revealed HIV prevalence

among gays in Chennai and Mumbai at 6.8% and 9.6% respectively in

2004. The number now stands at 12% for Mumbai and 18% for AP.

[Moderators note: For a complete copy of the UNAIDS report

ow/516130.cms

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