04-20-2005, 01:08 AM
<b>India has overtaken South Africa for biggest HIV toll</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->South Africa had the highest total of any country in the world, with an estimated 5.3 million infected adults and children in a range of 4.5 to 6.2 million.
India's total was put at 5.1 million, but the range estimate was far wider -- 2.5 to 8.5 million -- to reflect the many unknowns about the state of the pandemic there.
"India has to wake up and India has to take this very, very seriously," Feachem said on Tuesday. Without action, "millions and millions and millions of Indians are going to die."
He added, "the epidemic will grow faster, much faster, in (India's) Hindu population than in Moslems," as circumcision is an acknowleged protective factor against the AIDS virus.
The biggest form of transmission in India is from heterosexual intercourse with prostitutes. In addition to widespread ignorance and deep-rooted stigma abut AIDS, the country also has relatively high prices for anti-HIV drugs, said Feachem.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
India's total was put at 5.1 million, but the range estimate was far wider -- 2.5 to 8.5 million -- to reflect the many unknowns about the state of the pandemic there.
"India has to wake up and India has to take this very, very seriously," Feachem said on Tuesday. Without action, "millions and millions and millions of Indians are going to die."
He added, "the epidemic will grow faster, much faster, in (India's) Hindu population than in Moslems," as circumcision is an acknowleged protective factor against the AIDS virus.
The biggest form of transmission in India is from heterosexual intercourse with prostitutes. In addition to widespread ignorance and deep-rooted stigma abut AIDS, the country also has relatively high prices for anti-HIV drugs, said Feachem.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->