One out of 100 adults in India HIV-positive
By, The Times of India, June 4, 2007
NEW DELHI: India might be a low prevalence country for AIDS with only 0.9% of the adult population estimated to be infected with HIV. But in numbers, the situation looks grave with nearly 1 out of 100 adults in the country being HIV-positive.
In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the task of raising awareness about HIV is especially difficult due to the high proportion of rural population and relatively low levels of literacy. In Bihar, nearly 90% of the population lives in villages. In Uttar Pradesh, the figure is 79%. A particular problem is the literacy levels of females in both states. In Bihar, only one-third of females were literate at the time of the 2001 Census, as were 42% in Uttar Pradesh.
Despite such obstacles, awareness of HIV, how it spreads and ways to avoid it have risen in both states, according to bilingual HIV statistical chartbooks on the situation of HIV/AIDS in India, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh brought out by the Population Foundation of India, New Delhi, and Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Washington DC. The books were released at a seminar organised on Saturday. According to the charts, testing for HIV prevalence at sentinel sites in Bihar and UP has shown that HIV infection is spreading in the states, although the overall level of prevalence appears to be low at present.
Women are the most vulnerable to AIDS and yet their knowledge of the deadly disease is abysmally low. India's most scientific survey — the National Family Health Survey III, which for the first time came up with trend data on HIV/AIDS-related behaviour — has made some startling revelations.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/One_out_of_100_Indians_HIV-positive/articleshow/2096115.cms
NEW DELHI: India might be a low prevalence country for AIDS with only 0.9% of the adult population estimated to be infected with HIV. But in numbers, the situation looks grave with nearly 1 out of 100 adults in the country being HIV-positive.
In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the task of raising awareness about HIV is especially difficult due to the high proportion of rural population and relatively low levels of literacy. In Bihar, nearly 90% of the population lives in villages. In Uttar Pradesh, the figure is 79%. A particular problem is the literacy levels of females in both states. In Bihar, only one-third of females were literate at the time of the 2001 Census, as were 42% in Uttar Pradesh.
Despite such obstacles, awareness of HIV, how it spreads and ways to avoid it have risen in both states, according to bilingual HIV statistical chartbooks on the situation of HIV/AIDS in India, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh brought out by the Population Foundation of India, New Delhi, and Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Washington DC. The books were released at a seminar organised on Saturday. According to the charts, testing for HIV prevalence at sentinel sites in Bihar and UP has shown that HIV infection is spreading in the states, although the overall level of prevalence appears to be low at present.
Women are the most vulnerable to AIDS and yet their knowledge of the deadly disease is abysmally low. India's most scientific survey — the National Family Health Survey III, which for the first time came up with trend data on HIV/AIDS-related behaviour — has made some startling revelations.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/One_out_of_100_Indians_HIV-positive/articleshow/2096115.cms
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 11:17 am
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