The National Council on AIDS, to be headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet four times yearly to monitor progress made by public health agencies in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, an Indian official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. With global experts warning that India faces a major catastrophe unless it takes drastic action to fight the epidemic, the government is increasing its role in evaluating existing programs and drawing up new policies to tackle the problem, the official said.

With 5.1 million cases, India has the largest HIV/AIDS population in the world after South Africa. The spread of HIV/AIDS in the country has been attributed to widespread migration of labor; low literacy levels, which lead to low awareness about HIV/AIDS and how it is spread; gender disparities; and the prevalence of STDs.

India's government is concerned with the growing number of girls and women with HIV who have little access to adequate care due to the undervaluing of women in Indian society.

The panel, expected to begin work soon, will include the top elected officials of the seven Indian states with the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases and representatives of international agencies and nongovernmental organizations, according to the official. The federal ministers of defense, labor, highways and transport will also be part of the panel, since those ministries employ large numbers of people susceptible to the disease.

The government believes the council will provide strong leadership to step up the HIV/AIDS prevention campaign, the official said.

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