It is estimated that between 2- 3.1 million people are living with HIV in India at the present day. This is only an estimate as many people who are HIV+ are not aware of their status.
HIV emerged later in India than it did in many other countries. Infection rates soared throughout the 1990s, and have increased further in recent years.
There is no single group affected by HIV in India. HIV/AIDS affects all segments of India’s population. From children to adults, business men to homeless people, sex workers to housewives, and gay men to heterosexuals.
However there are groups that can be identified as being of higher risk such as commercial sex workers, migrant workers, truck drivers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users.
In a country where poverty, illiteracy and poor health are rife, the spread of HIV presents a daunting challenge.
Stigma and Discrimination
From the moment scientists identified HIV and AIDS, social responses of fear, denial, stigma and discrimination have accompanied the epidemic. Discrimination has spread rapidly, fuelling anxiety and prejudice against the groups most affected, as well as those living with HIV or AIDS.
It goes without saying that HIV and AIDS are as much about social phenomena as they are about biological and medical concerns.
Across the world the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS has shown itself capable of triggering responses of compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in people, their families and communities.
But the disease is also associated with stigma, repression and discrimination, as individuals affected (or believed to be affected) by HIV have been rejected by their families, their loved ones and their communities. This rejection holds as true in the rich countries of the north as it does in the poorer countries of the south.
In India, as elsewhere, AIDS is often seen as “someone else’s problem” – as something that affects people living on the margins of society, whose lifestyles are considered immoral.
Even as it moves into the general population, the HIV epidemic is misunderstood and stigmatised among the Indian public.
All the information on here is taken fromhttp://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm
It goes without saying that HIV and AIDS are as much about social phenomena as they are about biological and medical concerns.
Across the world the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS has shown itself capable of triggering responses of compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in people, their families and communities.
But the disease is also associated with stigma, repression and discrimination, as individuals affected (or believed to be affected) by HIV have been rejected by their families, their loved ones and their communities. This rejection holds as true in the rich countries of the north as it does in the poorer countries of the south.
In India, as elsewhere, AIDS is often seen as “someone else’s problem” – as something that affects people living on the margins of society, whose lifestyles are considered immoral.
Even as it moves into the general population, the HIV epidemic is misunderstood and stigmatised among the Indian public.
All the information on here is taken fromhttp://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm
