HIV/AIDS in India: Facts, Impact & Treatment Access

India reported its first cases of HIV-disease in 1986, according to Avert, an international AIDS charity. Since then, HIV/AIDS has become a serious public health concern in India, one of the world's most populous nations.

Significance

• In India, a country with more than a billion people, it is estimated that more than two million people have become infected with HIV, according to Avert.org

Treatment

• Many people in India who need antiretroviral drugs to manage HIV-disease do not have access to them. Additionally, HIV-positive people are often discriminated against in health-care settings in India, according to Avert.org.

Risk Groups

• Although anyone can become infected with HIV, groups of people in India who have been strongly impacted by the epidemic include sex workers, truck drivers, people who use injection drugs, migrant workers and men who have sex with men, according to Avert.org.

Considerations

• It is often difficult to provide educational materials about HIV/AIDS in India because of the social stigma placed on groups affected heavily by the virus, according to Avert.org.

Response

• The Indian government has established a number of programs to counteract HIV infection and to help those who are infected; this organized, governmental response began in 1986, according to Avert.org.