NEW DELHI: If statistics are any indication, India's health authorities seem to have tasted big success in controlling AIDS/HIV infections in the country. In the first decade of this millennium, the country has seen a massive 55 per cent drop in new infections from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus which is the cause of AIDS. What makes the volume special is that it is twice the rate of global decline in new HIV infections which declined by just 25 per cent globally. According to JVR Prasada Rao, United Nations' special envoy for AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, more people infected by the virus are under treatment than a decade ago and are living longer with the disease because of it. Prasada Rao, who in the past headed India's apex organization responsible for AIDS control – National AIDS Control Organization – also opined that the fast dwindling numbers of new HIV infections was a safe indicator that AIDS-control services in the country are showing results. Until 2006, India had a whopping 5.7 million people living with HIV. The number has dropped to 2.39 million people at last count. Prasada Rao said the situation has proved the doomsayers wrong but cautioned that India cannot be complacent. “We must build on this success,” Rao said, adding that de-criminalizing homosexuality and use of drugs would be the right path to take.
