Search the Internet          Tips

India may have largest number of HIV/AIDS cases by 2010: Report

Painting a grim picture, a leading American body has said India will have the largest number of people with HIV/AIDS in the world by the year 2010.

India is likely to have 20 to 25 million people infected with HIV/AIDS by 2010 -- the highest estimate for any country, the US National Intelligence Council said in a report.

The report said risky sexual behaviour is driving infection rates upward in India, China, Russia, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Heterosexual transmission, the report said, is the primary cause of infection in India, except in Nagaland and Manipur, where intravenous drug use is the main cause.

Thirty to 60 per cent of prostitutes and up to 15 per cent of all truck drivers are infected with HIV/AIDS. Sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive tract infections are rampant in India, increasing the risk that HIV/AIDS infections will be transmitted, it added.

The report, however, said the adult prevalence rate is only around one per cent, though in some areas [Mumbai, Pune], the rate is as high as four per cent.

Tell us what you think of this report