Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Associated Press - Wednesday November 6, 2002
"If the disease is unchecked here, India could soon surpass South Africa with the highest number of HIV/AIDS sufferers in the world," Ambassador Robert Blackwill said at a conference on AIDS prevention in Madras, the capital of southern Tamil Nadu state.
The U.N. AIDS agency has said India is home to almost 4 million infected people - more than any other country in the world except South Africa, which has 4.7 million people with the virus.
On Wednesday, Blackwill said those numbers in India could swell. Citing a U.S. government report, he warned the number of HIV/AIDS-infected people in India could rise to 25 million by 2010.
"This would cause a human tragedy of historic proportions," he said, and appealed for greater political will to combat the spread of the disease.
The United States plans to double its assistance for AIDS prevention to India to US$120 million over the next five years.
UNAIDS has warned that China and India - which account for one third of the world's population - could be on the brink of major AIDS epidemics.
But the Indian government says its prevention programs are paying off as the number of new cases of infection is stabilizing.
With the help of donor agencies, the government has launched an array of programs, which range from distribution of cheap drugs to promoting awareness among school children.
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