UN Urges New Focus for India AIDS

Disputes over the actual number of HIV cases in India have shifted attention away from the real issues posed by the disease, said Dr. Nafis Sadik, UN special envoy on HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, speaking ahead of the UN meeting on HIV/AIDS on Thursday. In April, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria chief Richard Feachem said India had overtaken South Africa as the nation with the most HIV infections and that the country's epidemic was "out of control" -- claims strongly denied by India. "Whether it's 4.5 million or 5.1 million HIV cases is not the real issue," said Sadik. "The real problem is that HIV is in the general population in some states and if strong measures are not taken it can become a generalized epidemic." "Denial and silence," discrimination and stigma, and a shortage of testing and counseling facilities are India's "main and most serious issues," said Sadik.

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