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The HIV/AIDS situation in different states
Andhra Pradesh
Goa
Karnataka
Maharashtra & Mumbai
Manipur
Mizoram
Nagaland
Tamil Nadu
There are a number of states where the HIV
prevalence in antenatal women is 1% or more, and these are
considered to be high prevalence states. The prevalence rates are
from data collected during screening of women attending antenatal
clinics (ANC), meaning that these prevalence rates are only relevant
to sexually active women. However, these rates can provide a
reasonable estimate of HIV prevalence within the general population
in each state.
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Andhra Pradesh has one of the fastest increasing
HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in India. In 2002 the ANC prevalence rate
was 1.25% and NACO has estimated that more than 400,000 people are
living with HIV in Andhra Pradesh, the second highest number after
Maharashtra state. This is 10% of the total HIV cases in India and
ninety percent of the infections in the state occur through sexual
transmission.15 Andhra Pradesh is a Hindu state in the southeast of
the country with a total population of 75.7 million.
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Goa is in the southwest of India and is best known
as a tourist destination. and tourism is so prominent that the
number of tourists almost equals the population of the state which
is 1.34 million. HIV infections have increased noticeably in Goa in
the past couple of years. The ANC prevalence rate increased from
0.5% in 2001 to 1.38% in 2002.
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In Karnataka the mean prevalence among ANCs was 1.13
in 2001 and 1.75 percent in 2002. In 2001 there were four districts
with an ANC prevalence of 2 percent or more, and these are located
in the southern part of the state, in and around Bangalore, on the
border with Tamil Nadu, or in northern Karnataka's "devadasi belt."
Devadasi women are a group of women, who historically, have been
dedicated to the service of gods. These days, this has evolved into
sanctioned prostitution- as a result many women from this part of
the country are supplied to the sex trade in big cities such as
Mumbai.16 Karnataka has a population of 52.7 million and is a
diverse state in the southwest of India.
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Mumbai (Bombay) is the capital city of Maharasthra
state and is the second most populated city in India with a
population of 16.4 million people. Maharastra is a very large state
of three hundred thousand square kilometres and it has a total
population of 96.8 million. The 2002 ANC prevalence rate for the
state of Maharasthra was 1.25% and the prevalence for the city of
Mumbai 0.75%.
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Manipur, a small state of 2.4 million people in the
north east of India, has the highest concentration of HIV/AIDS
infection in India. The geographical nearness of Manipur to Burma
and therefore to the Golden Triangle drug trail, has made it a major
transit route for drug smuggling, with drugs easily available.
However, the transmission route of HIV/AIDS in the state is no
longer confined to injecting drug users. It has spread further to
the female sexual partners of IDUs and their children.17 The ANC
prevalence in Manipur in 2002 was 1.12% and among injecting drug
users at three surveillance sites the HIV prevalence was an
extremely high 39.06%.
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In 1998, in the small north eastern state of Mizoram
which has a population of less than a million, the epidemic took off
quickly among male injecting drug users; with some drug clinics
registering HIV rates of more than 70 percent among their
patients.18 In 2002, the ANC prevalence was 1.50%.
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Another small north eastern state, with a population
of two million, and where injecting drug use has again been the
driving force behind the HIV epidemic. In 2002, the ANC prevalence
was 1.25% and the HIV prevalence among injecting drug users was
10.28%.
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When surveillance systems in the southern Indian
state of Tamil Nadu, home to some 60 million people, showed that HIV
infection rates among pregnant women were rising, tripling to 1.25%
between 1995 and 1997, the State Government acted decisively. It set
up an AIDS society, which worked closely with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and other partners to develop an active AIDS
prevention campaign. This included hiring a leading international
advertising agency to promote condom use for risky sex in a humorous
way, without offending the many people who do not engage in risky
behaviour. The campaign also attacked the ignorance and stigma
associated with HIV infection
The ANC prevalence in Tamil Nadu was 0.88% in 2002,
although an infection rate of 33.8 per cent was recorded at the one
surveillance site for injecting drug users. By September 2003 Tamil
Nadu had reported 24,667 cases of AIDS, the highest number reported
to NACO by any state.
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