NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (AFP) - India's premier called Thursday for safe sex to be taught to young people to stem the rise of HIV/AIDS in the country, home to the second highest number of people with the virus after South Africa.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, kicking off a national convention to mark World's AIDS Day, also called for a revamp of programmes aimed at stemming the spread of the infection among the country's billion-plus population -- more than half of which is under the age of 25.
"You should comprehend the need to educate our young about the modes of transmission of this disease, and leading a healthy and safe sexual life is one of the commitments we must all make," Singh said.
He urged adults in the nation known for its sexual conservatism to shed their inhibitions and discuss sex at home.
"This is particularly important given our traditional inhibitions about discussing such matters within our families and among our colleagues, quite apart from doing so in public," he said.
India's health ministry said in May there were only 28,000 new HIV infections in 2004, down from 520,000 the previous year -- figures which were rejected by national volunteer health groups as unrealistic.
The figures took the total number of officially HIV-positive people in India to 5.13 million, the second highest after South Africa with 5.3 million cases.
Singh said it was important for India to expand awareness of HIV/AIDS.
"Our government is committed to providing leadership to the national AIDS control efforts... and to start with, I do believe that this programme needs to get out of the narrow confines of the health department," Singh said.
"If we do so, we could upscale our efforts to the desired levels within a minimum period of time and we have no time to waste," he said, echoing warnings of anti-AIDS campaigners that New Delhi needs to massively crank up its fight.
Ruling Congress party president Sonia Gandhi appealed for an end to prejudice against people living with HIV.
"Do not add stigma to the disease," she told thousands of students, AIDS activists, Bollywood entertainers and sports stars at a rally in the capital.
"The victims needs compassion and they have a full right to live like equals. So let us create an atmosphere where victims can live with dignity."
Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, meanwhile, said India had prepared draft legislation to protect the rights of people with HIV/AIDS.
"The legislation has been drafted by lawyers collectively and deals with various issues such as discrimination, confidentiality, right to treatment, care and support," said Sibal.
"I hope the government will take action on it soon," Sibal said, as India's Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss expressed worry over the rampant spread of the disease in some of India's most populous states.
"We are concerned about Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh... which were earlier low prelevence states but now are highly vulnerable," Ramadoss said.
The health minister said New Delhi would increase the number of screening centres nationwide from 40 to 150 to accelerate testing.
The World Bank has said HIV/AIDS could become the single biggest cause of death in India unless prevention is improved and treatment becomes cheaper.
Premier Singh added there was also a need to prod the Indian pharmaceutical industry to accelerate basic research and produce low-cost drugs and vaccines.
At the New Delhi rally, Gandhi greeted a group of 30 anti-AIDS campaigners who arrived in the capital Thursday after spending the last year on a 6,800-kilometer (4,216 mile) trek that took them to 13 Indian states.
During their "Walk for Life," they travelled to over 300 cities, towns and villages, enduring searing heat, to educate people about HIV/AIDS by using street theater, videos and counseling.
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