11-21-2005, 03:00 AM
<b>India's HIV cases higher than official numbers </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> India, which has 5.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS -- second only to South Africa -- announced earlier this year that new infections had fallen dramatically to 28,000 in 2004 from 520,000 in 2003, sparking disbelief among voluntary groups.
Peter Piot, the executive director of   UNAIDS, told Reuters he did not believe that India could have witnessed such a drop.
"India having only 28,000 new infections is plainly impossible," Piot said in an interview late on Saturday.
He said some districts across the country with populations of several million had about four percent or more adults infected and a 400 percent fall in 2004 would be a "miracle."
"There are a number of states where reporting of cases is weak," Piot said in Guwahati, the main city of India's remote northeast, during a visit to push authorities in the region to do more to fight AIDS.
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Indian babus are very good in fudging data. No surprise here.
Peter Piot, the executive director of   UNAIDS, told Reuters he did not believe that India could have witnessed such a drop.
"India having only 28,000 new infections is plainly impossible," Piot said in an interview late on Saturday.
He said some districts across the country with populations of several million had about four percent or more adults infected and a 400 percent fall in 2004 would be a "miracle."
"There are a number of states where reporting of cases is weak," Piot said in Guwahati, the main city of India's remote northeast, during a visit to push authorities in the region to do more to fight AIDS.
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Indian babus are very good in fudging data. No surprise here.