Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Thursday, November 13, 2003
About 610,000 Indians contracted HIV last year, increasing the overall number of infected Indians to about 4.5 million, said the study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That is the second-highest national total in the world, after South Africa.
In four of the six most affected states, the virus was contracted by businessmen, men in the service sector and hotel employees, said the study, which used federal and state government data.
"The spread from the high-risk behavior groups to the general populace is another key indicator that HIV/AIDS in India has reached epidemic proportions," the study said.
Prostitutes' clients, "particularly married males, act as the bridge groups aiding [the spread] ... into the general population."
The study, citing India's National AIDS Control Organization, found that more than 85% of India's HIV cases are caused by unsafe sex. Some 3% of patients contract it through their mother's milk and another 3% by using contaminated syringes.
Last month, the Gates foundation pledged $200 million for an HIV-prevention program in India, which has a population of more than one billion.
The study's findings raise differences with the common perception that promiscuous truck drivers and needle-sharing drug users are spreading HIV.
India has shown positive signs in tackling AIDS, though poor record-keeping by local health officials has made it difficult to determine the precise number of people affected, said Carl Haub of the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau.
"India is doing all the right things," Mr. Haub said. "It is a hopeful situation. The problem is the size." The biggest challenge is reaching out to the 640,000 villages spread across the country's 1.1 million square miles, Mr. Haub said. He also said Indians must be educated about how HIV spreads to erase myths, including the idea that the disease can be contracted through mosquito bites.
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