In India there are currently fewer than 2.5 million people with HIV/AIDS, according to a senior health official on July 3, this is almost 60% lower than the UN's last estimate of 5.7 million. This new and substantially lower new figure, which came from an updated survey, would then place India not as the country with the highest HIV caseload, but now place it third, behind South Africa and Nigeria. The official announcement, which is due tomorrow, July 6, with the new figure that was calculated with the help of international agencies including the UN and USAID. (Reuters)
Many have feared that India would remain the world leader in HIV/AIDS, especially as it began to surpass South Africa around 5 years ago. Local NGO's had placed significant pressure on the government to act with more urgency and heavily criticized the governments lack of speed in tackling the issue. The sex industry, especially in cities such as Mumbai, has seen a substantially high proportion of the virus. India is also a country with a large majority of the population in rural and secluded villages, with high illiteracy rates and are continuing to fight against child labor and human trafficking. Nonetheless, India has been more proactive than many of it's counterparts in inciting prevention programs, however many of the countries high risk groups fail to see the results of these program, due to the criminal status of their actions. It is difficult to prevent the virus among groups, such as homosexuals, if one is seen to be aiding criminal activities, or working against centuries of social stigmas. As with many other countries the social stigma of HIV/AIDS, has helped fuel the spread the virus and shun many of it's victims.
“Children are being turned away from schools, clinics and orphanages because they or their family members are HIV-positive. If the Indian government is serious about fighting the country's AIDS epidemic, it should stop ignoring children affected by AIDS and start protecting them from abuse. “
– Zama Coursen-Neff, Senior Researcher with Human Rights Watch's Children's Rights Division
Many activists are still concerned that the issues is not getting the full attention that it needs, even in the wake of these developments and lower estimates of infected persons in India. Some such activists stated concern over the ‘lower estimate, especially in a country where over 40 percent of the women have not heard of AIDS.’ “A lower estimate may reduce the political will to fight the virus and people may start taking the threat of AIDS lightly. This is a danger,” said Christy Abraham, the Indian team leader for HIV/AIDS at voluntary group ActionAid International. (India HIV Caseload Seen Dramatically Lower)
Another issue of grave concern is that many believed the previous figures for HIV/AIDS infected persons in India, did not adequately represent all of the viruses victims, mainly children. Estimates of 60,000-100,000 children are said not to have been included in the previous figures, this leads many to question any new figures for high discrepancy. In 2004 Human Rights Watch issued a report saying the ‘Indian government is putting millions at risk by ignoring such children.’ “Children affected by HIV/AIDS are being discriminated against in education and health services, denied care by orphanages, and pushed onto the streets and into the worst forms of child labor,” Zama Coursen-Neff, the author of the report, told The Associated Press in an interview (India's AIDS Children Shunned). The Indian government stated, that while children had been being ignored, they have been working to correct the situation and place children in higher focus, including in the areas of HIV/AIDS. One can only hope for the sake of all children in India that this is the case, and the the numbers of those with HIV/AIDS is truly on the decrease and will continue in its decline.
