District level report on HIV for 115 districts in south

March 31, 2006

New Delhi: In a bid to improve the coverage of the AIDS control

measures, an international team of scientists is working to prepare

district-level report of 115 districts in the high-prevalence

southern states.

" The report will be available in few months time, " Dr Prabhat Jha

from the Centre for Global Health Research, University of Toronto,

who is participating in the study, said here today.

The scientists would collect the data already available with various

government agencies, he said.

These districts are in the high prevalance states of Karnataka,

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

The study would help in finding out the reasons for variations in

prevalence of HIV infection in different districts which may be

located close by, he said adding this would help in identifying

potential hotspots and devising strategies to prevent spread of the

infection.

It would also help in identifying gaps in surveillance and improving

the covergae of the programme, he said.

The factors such as HIV outcomes, testing in clinics, voluntary

testing sites, sex workers, NGOs, presence of highways and migrant

population were being analysed, he said.

The study is being carried out by a group of scientists from India,

Canada and Middle East called the " Internatioanl Studies of HIV/AIDS

Investigators (ISHA) " .

The group was collaborating with the National AIDS Control

Organisation and state governments, he said.

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