India- The new age AIDS Capital!

Watch this slide show, from L.A.Times. It is indeed sad that we now have the dubious rank of being AIDS Capital!

Interactive Feature

India: The New AIDS Capital

(Flash)

FACTS ABOUT AIDS
5.7 million: Indians living with HIV
38 percent:

Those infected who are women IN THE 25 YEARS since it was identified, the virus that causes AIDS has traveled a highway of humanity to all corners of Earth. It has crossed oceans and continents; it stalks the world's most marginal people as they struggle to survive.K. Sangeetha's husband brought HIV/AIDS home to their village of Gangaikondacholapuram on a rickety bus from Chennai, the coastal city better known to many as Madras. Each day, poor men like him from villages throughout the world's second most populous country head to the booming cities to find work. The road from Sangeetha's village to Chennai to the north is about 175 miles; along the way laborers find work in quarries, brick plants or sugar cane fields.When they go, the men stay for months at a time, leaving their wives and children as they try to earn enough money to pull their families out of the poverty of subsistence farming. Many of them also encounter prostitutes while they are away from home and contract HIV. Many, like Sangeetha's husband, die. India has surpassed South Africa as the country with the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS. As of last year, there were an estimated 5.7 million of them.India's government is fighting back. It is offering free antiretroviral drugs in the larger cities. A local organization has enlisted barbers in the fight: They hand out free condoms and comic books to educate men about the disease.

Rural people have heard that there is hope if they can get to the cities. But for many of them, it still is out of reach. For some who have been stricken, the seven-hour bus ride to Chennai and hours of standing in line for a month's supply of drugs are too difficult. For others, the $6 cost of the bus ticket is too much.So they stay home, often stigmatized by their neighbors, left to confront the certainty of decline and death in the same isolation in which they lived. Sangeetha, a 35-year-old widow with a 15-year-old daughter, was one such woman. She died this fall.

LONE BATTLE: Once subjected to social ridicule, Lalita is now the darling of all in Nalanda.

HIV+ve lady on awareness campaign

Prabhakar Kumar

CNN-IBN

Posted Saturday , December 16, 2006 at 09:42Updated Saturday , December 16, 2006 at 11:17

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Patna/Nalanda: Through Innumerable AIDS campaigns, you might be aware the ways in which one can contract the dreaded disease. But despite being a woman, an AIDS affected patient Lalita Devi is taking the campaign to the truck drivers amongst others.

Lalita Devi runs HIV awareness campaign among truck drivers and also holds awareness session at a local dhaba in Nalanda, Bihar. Lalita herself is an AIDS patient and her husband succumbed to AIDS an year ago.

"Ye batate hai char karan se AIDS se failta hai – youn sambandha banane se, ek hi syringe se sui lene se, bina jane hue khun chadhane se, garbhawati mahila se uske bachhe ko; garva main bache se HIV nahi failta hai. Saath rahne se, saath khane se, chumban lene se, sachiwalya jane se aur uthne baithne se, ek saath kaam karne se nahi failta. (I say that AIDS may spread through four means – unprotected sex, using common needle for injections, transmission of contaminated blood and during pregnancy, from infected mother to her child. The virus does not spread from touching, using the same bathroom, kissing, working or eating together," said Lalita Devi.

She spends her day on roadside dhabas, sticking posters and distributing condoms among truck drivers, the most vulnerable community of all. She also takes a trip to nearby villages to talk to families, apart from spending time with other patients.

"Abhi madad ye karti hai ki batati hai – ye karna hai, ye nahi karna hai, ye khana – sharir acha rahega (She used to tell what to do, what not to do, what to eat to stay healthy)," said Girija Devi, another AIDS patient.

The dreaded HIV virus has affected her physically but not her fighting spirit. Instead of sulking down Lalita is fighting back though it's a lone battle. And once subjected to social ridicule, Lalita is now the darling of all.

"Saab koi baithate hai, saab koi bolte hai, sang rahte hai – Pahle ghrina karte, log bhagte hai. Jab se sanstha main kaaam karti hai koi ghrina nahi mangte. (Everyone has accepted her now. People were earlier repulsed but now everyone's attitude has changed)," said Lalita's mother-in-law Jimanti Devi.

Lalita, no doubt, is an inspiration for others fighting this disease, which has, in recent times, become one of India's most dreaded enemies.

(With inputs from Sahboob Alam and Nikhil Dev)

True or False...

India 'overestimates' HIV/Aids

The study says infection rates could be 40% lower than estimatedMethods used to estimate the number of people infected by HIV/Aids in India are flawed and the actual number of cases may be far lower, a study says.
The UN estimates that India has the highest number of HIV infections, with 5.7 million people carrying the virus.
The survey of blood samples reported by British journal BMC Medicine suggests the true figure may be 40% of that.
UN and Indian experts queried whether a study conducted in one district in the south could be extrapolated nationwide.
Blood samples
The study is based on research in Guntur district in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, which is worst-hit by the infection.
India may be overestimating its HIV burden with the currently used official estimation method
Lalit Dandona, Study author
Investigators collected blood samples from 12,617 people aged between 15 and 49 in Guntur - one of the worst affected areas in the state - to come to their conclusions.
The method estimated that there were 45,900 people living with HIV in Guntur, compared with the estimate of 112,600 reached by the official method.
Extrapolating findings in Guntur, the study's suggests there may be between 3.2 million and 3.5 million adults with the infection in India.
"India may be overestimating its HIV burden with the currently used official estimation method," the study said.
However, study investigator Dr Lalit Dandona said that even though his team's numbers were smaller, they were "by no means suggesting that the problem is already taken care of".
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Dandona agreed that more research needed to be conducted elsewhere in India to substantiate the study's findings, but he stood by its methodology.
'Useful'
The official method uses data collected from ante-natal and STD clinics and public hospitals.
Even if it were right in Guntur, it would not mean it is right all over India
Denis Broun, UNAids India
Dr Dandona said he believed that there was no intentional effort to inflate the numbers, but the official method gave a flawed picture.
This is because the number of people with the infection reporting to the clinics and public hospitals were not representative of their true numbers in the population, he said.
UNAids chief in India Dr Denis Broun told the Associated Press that this was a "good study and definitely useful".
But he said there were problems with the methods used for arriving at its conclusion.
"Even if it were right in Guntur, it would not mean it is right all over India," he said.
A member of India's National Aids Council, Dr Sarojit Jana, stood by the way official figures were collated. He told the BBC that it was "not right" to make conclusions on the basis of a single district.
Aids awareness campaigners at the Naz Foundation agreed and warned that the study could create a "false sense of security".
Recently, former US President Bill Clinton called India the epicentre of the global HIV/Aids epidemic.
A report in India warned that its economy would suffer if the country fails to check the spread of HIV and Aids - economic growth currently at 8% could fall by nearly 1% if the disease is not contained, it said.

Condom Kumar Pay Attention!!

Condoms 'too big' for Indian men

By Damian Grammaticus BBC News, Delhi

There is a "lack of awareness" over condom sizes

A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.

The study found that more than half of the men measured had penises that were shorter than international standards for condoms.

It has led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.

The two-year study was carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Representative

Over 1,200 volunteers from the length and breadth of the country had their penises measured precisely, down to the last millimetre.

The scientists even checked their sample was representative of India as a whole in terms of class, religion and urban and rural dwellers.

The problem affects HIV prevention

The conclusion of all this scientific endeavour is that about 60% of Indian men have penises which are between three and five centimetres shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture.

Doctor Chander Puri, a specialist in reproductive health at the Indian Council of Medical Research, told the BBC there was an obvious need in India for custom-made condoms, as most of those currently on sale are too large.

The issue is serious because about one in every five times a condom is used in India it either falls off or tears, an extremely high failure rate.

And the country already has the highest number of HIV infections of any nation.

Mr Puri said that since Indians would be embarrassed about going to a chemist to ask for smaller condoms there should be vending machines dispensing different sizes all around the country.

"Smaller condoms are on sale in India. But there is a lack of awareness that different sizes are available. There is anxiety talking about the issue. And normally one feels shy to go to a chemist's shop and ask for a smaller size condom."

'Not a problem'

But Indian men need not be concerned about measuring up internationally according to Sunil Mehra, the former editor of the Indian version of the men's magazine Maxim.

"It's not size, it's what you do with it that matters," he said.

"From our population, the evidence is Indians are doing pretty well.

"With apologies to the poet Alexander Pope, you could say, for inches and centimetres, let fools contend."

Watch SAHAYA Youth Against AIDS on MTV desi

Well, we have been informed that MTV desi will be airing all week this week under MTV News the SAHAYA Youth Against AIDS launch event that took place on Nov 28th! If any of you (who did not attend the event) get to watch it, please write in your comments and let us know what are some of your ideas and thoughts on how to make SAHAYA Youth Against AIDS a focussed youth campaign on HIV/AIDS in India. Also, the last date for the nominations is coming up soon.. Dec 25th!! So, get into the spirit of holidays and work towards better health for all those suffering with HIV infection. Nominate yourself to the Leadership Council and join to combat HIV/AIDS....we need creative ideas and solutions on how to make and take this youth campaign to India!!

A Night for India Event Jan 11th 2007

For further information on buying the ticket for this event please contact bhuvana.bhagat@aifoundation.org. If you are a young adult (and have attended and/or interested in SAHAYA Youth Against AIDS) and would like to attend A Night for India event, please email Bhuvana and let her know. We have a special concession for young professionals!

World AIDS Day

"World AIDS Day" is celebrated globally every year on the first day of the month of December. Around forty million people are living with HIV throughout the world - and that number increases in every region every day. Ignorance and prejudice are fuelling the spread of a preventable disease.

World AIDS Day, 1 December is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV and AIDS. This year, it's up to you, me and us to stop the spread of HIV and end prejudice.

This starts by taking action.

You: Wear a red ribbon
Me: Talk to people
Us: Get involved in events

India's President APJ Abdul Kalam on Friday asked lawmakers to ensure that legislation to end discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients is brought into force in the next six months. "It is for the members of parliament to sit together and pass a legislation, which would prevent discrimination against AIDS patients in their day-to-day life," Kalam said in an address to the parliamentarians on the occasion of World AIDS Day.

"The Ministry of Health is working on a draft legislation and I would call upon the members to see that a robust and effective legislation is brought into force within the next six months," he added. In his speech, Kalam also urged the government to work towards making the cost of anti-retroviral drugs more affordable.

According to UN reports, many HIV positive people suffer discrimination in India as there is a low level of awareness and a stigma attached with the pandemic. This is despite that fact that India has the largest population of HIV infected people worldwide, accounting for 5.7 million of the 39.5 million HIV/AIDS cases globally.

HIV-positive people often face discrimination at their workplace, have been rejected by families, spouses and communities and in many cases are refused medical treatment at hospitals and clinics. A recent study found that one-quarter of HIV-infected people were refused medical treatment on the basis of their HIV-positive status.

The discrimination has been hindering efforts to prevent new infections. Meanwhile, thousands of activists and HIV-positive people participated in a number of rallies in New Delhi and other Indian cities to mark the World AIDS day.

The observance of Worlds AIDS Day began in 1988, two years after the first HIV case was detected in India. India's Health Ministry claims that it has contained the prevalence of the epidemic to less than one per cent of the adult population.

In recent years the Indian government has been focusing its AIDS control programme on the country's massive youth population. In this connection, Kalam stressed that for a more effective awareness campaign among the young and high-risk groups, rural and religious bodies should reach out to more people. There are 280 million young people in India, or 25 per cent of the population, and nearly 50 per cent of new HIV infections are among this 15 to 24 age group.
© 2006 DPA