'Sharp drop' in India Aids levels

'Sharp drop' in India Aids levels

The number of people living with HIV/Aids in India is around half of
previous official estimates, at between 2-3.1 million people, new
figures say.

The UN-backed government estimates are sharply lower than earlier figures, the health minister announced on Friday.



Previous estimates from the National Aids Control Organisation (Naco)
put the number of HIV cases at 5.2m, while UNAids in 2006 estimated
5.7m cases.



Officials say the lower estimate could be attributed to more accurate data.



'Still large'



"Today we have a far more reliable estimate of the burden of HIV in
India," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told a news conference in the
Indian capital.



"The results show that there are an estimated two million to 3.1 million people affected with HIV-Aids.








"In terms of human lives affected, the number is still large, in fact very large. This is very worrying for us."



The minister said that India had always been accused of underestimating the number of Aids cases.



"That was a disturbing allegation, and today, we have a far more reliable estimate," he said.



The latest estimates were calculated with the help of international
agencies, including the UN and US Agency for International Development.




Correspondents say that India was thought to have the world's biggest
HIV-positive caseload, but the new estimate means that South Africa and
Nigeria are more severely affected.



India is about to embark on a new and expanded phase of its Aids
control programme, with increased funding from the government and from
international donors.



Mr Ramadoss said that the prevalence level of the infection was now
estimated to be around 0.36 percent of the population of more than a
billion people - compared to an earlier estimate of 0.9 percent.



Correspondents say that a reason why the latest Aids estimates are so
much lower is because previously the UN reached the 5.7m figure by
using hundreds of surveillance centres to test the blood of pregnant
women and high-risk groups such as drug users and prostitutes over four
months each year.



'Crumbling' system



But more recently a new population-based survey that took the blood
samples of 102,000 people among the general public - rather than
specific groups - indicated for the first time India's HIV caseload was
highly overestimated.



UNAids says such that such surveys are more accurate, as they are "more
representative" and generate "more accurate information" for rural
areas and the male population.





But voluntary groups running anti-HIV/Aids campaigns say the lower
numbers should not allow people to become complacent, as there is still
a strong need to curb the spread of the virus in a country with a
crumbling government healthcare system.



The head of Naco, Sujatha Rao, said there was no reason to fear that money to fight the Aids virus will be reduced.



She said that huge funding was still needed to test people and prevent
HIV infection, in addition to providing treatment for people suffering
from the illness.



"There is no question of reducing even a dollar towards the fight against Aids," she said.



Last month, health officials said they were especially alarmed by the
growing numbers of pregnant women infected with HIV/Aids in the
northern states of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar.



They are among India's most backward, with huge populations but poor literacy and health services.



Officials say workers who migrate to cities in search of work bring the infection back to the states with them.



They said that unless the state governments got serious about tackling the disease, there could still be an Aids epidemic.