India Considers Tourist AIDS Screening

India is considering monitoring foreign tourists to see if they are infected with HIV. Indian AIDS campaigners say as many as 23 people are being infected with the virus every minute. The Indian Health Ministry has drawn up a plan to insist that visitors from abroad declare whether they are HIV-free on arrival. India's Health Minister, Dr. C.P. Thakur, said the plan to check all foreigners would go a long way to curbing the infection rate in the country. Thakur told the BBC the proposal had been forwarded to the tourism and foreign ministries for consultation. "HIV infection came to India from abroad and it still continues, mainly through the coastal route," Thakur said. However, human rights activists say if the plan is implemented, it will be a violation of human rights. According to a National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) report, at least four million Indians are infected with HIV/AIDS, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic is India's most serious health problem.

The Health Ministry is also going to launch a mass awareness program in the states of Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur where HIV/AIDS infections are rising rapidly. Thakur said political activists, businessmen and local people will work toward setting up HIV testing centers, provide counseling facilities and conduct awareness programs. He said students and factory workers would be the main targets of these efforts.

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