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AIDS in India
India has had a sharp increase in the estimated
number of HIV infections, from a few thousand in the early 1990s to
around 5.1 million children and adults living with HIV/AIDS in
2003. With a population of over one billion, the HIV epidemics in
India will have a major impact on the overall spread of HIV in Asia
and the Pacific and indeed worldwide.
The spread of HIV within the country is as diverse
as the societal patterns between its different regions, states and
metropolitan areas. In fact, India's epidemic is made up of a number
of epidemics, and in some places they occur within the same state.
The epidemics vary from states with mainly heterosexual transmission
of HIV, to some states where injecting drug use is the main route of
HIV transmission. Both tracking the epidemic and implementing
effective programs poses a serious challenge to the authorities and
communities in India.
It would be easy to underestimate the challenge of
HIV/AIDS in India. India has a large population and population
density, low literacy levels and consequently low levels of
awareness, and HIV/AIDS is one of the most challenging public health
problems ever faced by the country.
"How do you talk to about HIV/AIDS to someone who
does not know the basics about health and hygiene?"
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