Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - June 12, 2005
Futhi Ntshingila
Research carried out by Athmanundh Dilraj, a senior specialist at the Medical Research Council in Durban, estimates that in two years the incidence of HIV/Aids among pregnant Indian women will have increased eightfold since 2001.
Researchers and community workers blame the expected explosion on a belief in the Indian community that HIV/Aids is a "black" disease, leading to complacency in taking precautions.
Dilraj's study of 988 women at four public antenatal clinics in Chatsworth, Phoenix and Wentworth found a 1.1% prevalence amongst Indian women.
Based on established methods of estimating the growth rate of infection, he expected that figure to climb to 8.8% two years from now.
Savy Subramay, co-ordinator of the Chatsworth Community Centre, which offers help to victims of crime and HIV/Aids, said that because of the stigma, Indians found it hard to accept the reality of HIV/Aids in their community.
She had noticed an increase in the number of Indians coming for help with opportunistic infections connected to HIV/Aids.
"It has increased, but it's still taking a long time for them to even admit that they are positive," she said. "They want to say that are suffering from opportunistic infections and not really HIV/AIDS. They feel comfortable with believing that."
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