Publications - Released in 2001
The first AIDS case in India was detected in 1986 and since then, HIV/AIDS epidemic has emerged as a serious public health problem in India. Of the 39.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 7.1 million are from South and South East Asia and more than 70% of these infections are in India. It is estimated by the Indian government and the UNAIDS that as on December 2004, about 5.1 million individuals- 0.9 percent of the adult population were living with HIV/AIDS in India. Although the HIV prevalence of less than 1% of the adult population makes India a low prevalence country, given the country’s large population of more than a billion people, even a small increase in the prevalence rate can result in tremendous increases in the number living with HIV. In absolute numbers India ranks second to South Africa, which has 5.3 million HIV positive people, but it is feared that soon India may have more people infected with HIV than any other country in the world. Moreover, in India the epidemic is no longer confined to the high-risk groups and it has started spreading to the general population.