If AIDs is not checked, it will impact Indiaâs stability. It is as dangerous as any external threat to India.
2-5% of India's population is HIV carrier and 1% is suffering from AIDs.
<b>Army takes celluloid route to combat AIDS</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->For the first time the Indian army admits that it could be facing an AIDS problem and it's taking the threat seriously.
Many of the army's jawans contract the HIV virus while in service. Testing is only done at the time of joining and so new cases only appear during treatment for other ailments or blood transfusion.
Alarming figures
<b>Estimates put this at around 2 per cent currently, but actual figures could be much, much higher</b>.
"The movement of our troops is quite frequent and there are some areas and borders like the Burma border where the vulnerability of our troops increases. Since the period of separation from the family is longer, there is a lot of interaction with the local population," said Lt Gen JR Bharadwaj, DG, AFMS<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The film called Akhri Dastak on AIDS awareness will be shown to more than 1 million soldiers of the Indian army.
The film revolves around the life of a young jawan who contracts AIDS from a sex worker while he is away from his family. All commanding officers have been ordered to screen this film for their jawans<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>AIDS threatens global security</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In many ways, India is Africa five to 10 years ago. With large numbers of migrant laborers, widespread prostitution, a flimsy health infrastructure and a mind-boggling state of denial among government elites, AIDS is poised to leap to Africa-like proportions.<b> This in the world's largest democracy, a nuclear power and a key U.S. strategic ally in a volatile region</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It may seem to stretch logic to begin with a public health crisis and end with a global security threat. But experts say anything is possible with this unprecedented pandemic.
Perhaps most directly, <b><span style='color:black'>AIDS eats away at a nation's ability to defend itself by killing the forces dedicated to national security. When soldiers, police officers and international peacekeepers become infected in such large numbers that their capabilities are threatened, security is undermined</b>. </span>
Already, this phenomenon is taking place in Africa. Consider these damning statistics:
In Kenya, AIDS accounts for about three-quarters of the deaths among police.
Defense ministers in some African countries report HIV prevalence averages of 20 percent to 40 percent in their militaries. In Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the rates are as high as 50 percent to 60 percent.
So far in Africa, military forces suffer infection rates several times that of the general population. If this pattern continues, Russia, China, and<b> India could find themselves with diminished military capacity</b>. The Russian military already is gravely concerned about the rising rates of HIV infection among its troops.
Soldiers facing death sentences of AIDS can act recklessly, some say, potentially sparking conflicts. "There's nothing more dangerous than a soldier with a gun who already thinks he is going to die," said De Lay.
AIDS likely contributed in this fashion to the genocide in Rwanda during the 1990s, De Lay added. Although ethnic tensions were also blamed, the prevalence of HIV infection likely fueled the violence. Some Rwandan women reported being raped and told by the soldiers: "I just gave you the AIDS virus," according to De Lay.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>38 percent Indians with HIV fear losing jobs </b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>In India, an estimated five million people are living with HIV/AIDS</b>, while globally around 36.5 million people of working age have HIV, according to the first study on the impact of the disease on the world of work.
"HIV/AIDS is not only a human crisis, it is a threat to sustainable global, social and economic development," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia on the study being presented at a global conference on AIDS being held in Bangkok July 11-16.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>India has largest number of people living with HIV: UNAIDS</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India has the largest number of people living with HIV outside South Africa and most infections were acquired sexually, though injecting drug use dominated some states in the country's north east, a fact sheet issued by the UNAIDS has said.
"In this area, infection levels of 60 to 75 per cent have been found among injecting drug users using non-sterile injecting equipment," the UN body said.
In many parts of India, HIV transmission through sex between men is also a major concern, the fact sheet said. It added that research showed some men who had sex with men may also have sex with women.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mudy listen to this: A Paradox of Supply and Demand
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India is the largest manufacturer and supplier of cheap generic AIDS drugs to Africa, but virtually none of India's 5 million people with HIV are getting the drugs. NPR's Brenda Wilson examines what's behind India's access problems.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mudy: Pay close attention to some dates mentioned in here. Predictor: In about a year the DDM is going to spin it around.
Viren, we don't have to wait, they are already doing, actual data is very scary "<b>Rate of HIV increase falls in India</b>" <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->There is a distinct fall in the rate of growth of HIV infections in the country," Project Director National AIDS Control Organisation Meenakshi Datta Ghosh told reporters here today.
The number of HIV positive people has risen from 45.80 lakh in 2002 to 51.06 lakh in 2003, Ghosh said, adding the number of increase in the HIV positive people during the period was only 5.2 lakh in comparison to that between 2001 and 2002 which was 6.1 lakh<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Without medication, people are still getting infected, there is no change in social behavior, Blood bank is not scanning blood, and medical doctors are still not careful or I can say ignorant.
How can they claim drop in new case?<!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<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.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
New Delhi, Dec. 1: An internal Army report has revealed that there are over 5,000 HIV-positive cases in the armed forces and on an average 50 more are testing positive each month. The alarming report has prompted the armed forces to quickly take stock of the situation and try to look for solutions.
According to highly-placed sources in the Ministry of Defence, the study found that more than soldiers going abroad on UN assignments, it was the soldiers coming back from tours of duty in the North-East as well as Jammu and Kashmir who were contracting the disease. âThe soldiers constantly live in a tension-filled environment in Manipur, Assam or Nagaland. As soon as they proceed on leave from their far-flung deployment areas, they hit the brothels in Guwahati, Silchar and even Kolkata.
Armed with a couple of bottles of rum they head straight to the red light areas as they find that sex relieves stress,â said highly-placed sources in the Directorate-General of Armed Forces Medical Services. The study has suggested that jawans be given more leave at regular intervals so they head home instead of brothels.
âIf they are given more leave they will not be so desperate and will wait at least till they get home,â the sources added. The study has even listed bigger cities like New Delhi, Jammu and Kolkata from where soldiers are feared to have contracted the virus.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Kids have sex anyway, give them condoms: MSRÂ </b>
Warangal, Dec. 1: Taking the promotion of condoms to the extremes, Endowments Minister M Satyanarayana Rao suggested on Wednesday that condoms be distributed to school students, along with notebooks and textbooks. âLet us talk plainly. School-children are overexposed to obs-cenity through television, magazines and posters. Increasing number of schoolchildren are becoming victims of AIDS. <b>Why should we feel ashamed to distribute condoms to students above Class VI</b>,â Rao added. The Minister suggested this at the AIDS awareness meet held as part of World AIDS Day at the Public Gardens here.
The veteran leader said that according to a recent survey, schoolchildren constituted a large number of HIV positive people; it was shocking to note that more and more school children were experiencing sex at a very early age. âWhen it is not possible to control their behaviour, it would be wise to expose them to preventive measures like the use of condoms early,â the Minister said.
Stating that he was not feeling guilty about making this âextremeâ suggestion, Rao said that he was giving his views, fully conscious of the presence of media in the meeting. He said that though âpeople of our country stress on moral values, they nevertheless indul-ge in immoral relationships. As a result, our country has a large number of AIDS patients.â
Making an appeal to the people to stop feeling guilty about buying condoms, Rao said that it was necessary to protect oneself from deadly diseases like AIDS. He explained that in Western countries it was very common for men and women to carry condoms in their carry bags. Hanamkonda MLA M Satyanarayana Reddy called for the <b>introduction of AIDS education from Class VIII</b>. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Today is World Aids Day. Time perhaps to take stock of ground realities - that Delhi has 25,000 people who are HIV-positive and that the number of full-blown AIDS cases in the city is 950, from 359 cases in December 1999. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>AIDS not a priority for Parliamentarians</b>
NDTV Correspondent
Wednesday, December 1, 2004 (New Delhi):
AIDS could be one of the biggest health threats India faces right now, but it is clearly not something our MPs are losing any sleep over.
Far from campaigning for AIDS awareness, many of them actually need a lesson in HIV-AIDS.
When NDTV spoke to them on the subject, many MPs either refused to comment or confessed ignorance.
"We are embarrassed that Tamil Nadu has the largest number of AIDS cases," said CPI (M) MP P Mohan.
Dirty word
The CPI (M) MP thinks condom is a dirty word. "The use of condoms is immoral. This disease spreads because of mental weakness. People should be punished for using condoms," he said.
Some MPs, meanwhile, had rather simplistic solutions to the problem.
"According to Indian tradition, if people are devotional, they will not get AIDS," said BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan.
And not knowing about the disease didn't stop the MPs from having an opinion on it.
"I don't know what causes it, but I know that there is not enough awareness about it," said Babulal Marandi.
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has set up a parliamentary committee to tackle the issues of AIDS awareness. But perhaps the committee should begin their work closer to home.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Just this weekend i was talking to a friend. His cousin's husband has got HIV now. Accidently at that. He had gone in for some other test.. Dunno if the lady has got it or not.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
COUNTERVIEW: Potential to counter the lethal virus
With five million people already infected by HIV/AIDS, the news that the clinical trials of a potential vaccine have begun is enormously encouraging for India. Here at last is hope that the HIV/AIDS pandemic can be contained. Thirty volunteers have been injected with the vaccine in phase I of the trials. The AACO9 vaccine must undergo seven trials before it can come on to the market. There is reason for hope that the vaccine will be effective because similar trials begun in Belgium and Germany last year have shown positive results. Many will argue that the trials are prohibitively expensive. But such is the enormous socio-economic cost of the pandemic that no effort must be spared.
As we have seen, levels of awareness about prevention are very poor in developing countries, which are most affected by the virus. So India cannot afford to rely on the prevention route. By the end of this year, India will have the highest number of people infected with HIV/AIDS and by 2010 the figure will go up to 25 million. The cost of anti-retroviral treatment for each person infected will come to Rs 26,500 a year if the government were to subsidise it. This is out of reach for most people. So the only practical solution would be an effective vaccine. The trials are being conducted in a transparent manner with the full consent of the volunteers. It is also important that the trials be conducted here because this way we will eventually have a vaccine tailor-made for the particular strains that infect people in India. In the short-run, the costs may seem high, but in the long-term the vaccine will prove cost-effective for us.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>India Plans Law to Stop Discrimination Against AIDS</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India, which has the world's second largest HIV/AIDS population, plans to introduce a law to stop discrimination against people infected with the virus, the health minister said on Monday<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
