07-24-2004, 10:14 AM
<b>India is still in a denial mode.</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>India objects to projection of dismal AIDS scenario </b>
New Delhi, July 24. (PTI): The Government on Friday took exception to projection of a dismal scenario on the HIV/AIDS front in the country by some individuals and bodies.
"The Vice-President of the South Asia Region of the World Bank Prafful Patel, at the recently concluded Bangkok AIDS Conference, had said that <b>India was going through a denial stage. It was a surprise to us," </b>Health Secretary J V R Prasada Rao, told reporters here.
The World Bank had appreciated Indian programmes on HIV/AIDS several times, he said adding the Government was trying to get clarifications on the matter from the World Bank.
In two-three fora, Hollywood star <b>Richard Gere, also passed similar comments saying that the epidemic had gone out of control in India,</b> Rao said.
"I opposed it at the conference (Bangkok) and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, also reacted to it during her address."
In her speech at the conference, Gandhi had said, "Given the scale of suffering wrought by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is to be expected that doomsday scenario of its spread are commonplace. My country figures in all these projections.
"While there is no room for complacency, I would like to take this opportunity to categorically assert the determination and ability of the Government and the people of India to meet this daunting challenge, just as effectively as they did in the campaign to eradicate smallpox decades ago."
Generally, international bodies speak well of Indian efforts, Rao said.
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New Delhi, July 24. (PTI): The Government on Friday took exception to projection of a dismal scenario on the HIV/AIDS front in the country by some individuals and bodies.
"The Vice-President of the South Asia Region of the World Bank Prafful Patel, at the recently concluded Bangkok AIDS Conference, had said that <b>India was going through a denial stage. It was a surprise to us," </b>Health Secretary J V R Prasada Rao, told reporters here.
The World Bank had appreciated Indian programmes on HIV/AIDS several times, he said adding the Government was trying to get clarifications on the matter from the World Bank.
In two-three fora, Hollywood star <b>Richard Gere, also passed similar comments saying that the epidemic had gone out of control in India,</b> Rao said.
"I opposed it at the conference (Bangkok) and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, also reacted to it during her address."
In her speech at the conference, Gandhi had said, "Given the scale of suffering wrought by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is to be expected that doomsday scenario of its spread are commonplace. My country figures in all these projections.
"While there is no room for complacency, I would like to take this opportunity to categorically assert the determination and ability of the Government and the people of India to meet this daunting challenge, just as effectively as they did in the campaign to eradicate smallpox decades ago."
Generally, international bodies speak well of Indian efforts, Rao said.
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