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 As Americans gain a better understanding of AIDS’ impact on sub-Saharan Africa, the disease now threatens south Asia. Public health experts have long seen India and China as the next fronts on which the battle against AIDS would be fought; recent numbers indicate that the battle has begun.
While several African countries are fighting infection rates of more than 20 percent, recent studies reveal India’s rates now as high as 8 percent in some areas. While the percentage seems comparatively small, with a population of more than a billion, even a 1 percent increase translates into more than 10 million infections.
AIDS already has ravaged India’s high-risk groups, like truck drivers and commercial sex workers. However, the recent increase in infection rates indicates that the virus is now reaching the general population where it could run rampant. According to a report released by the CIA’s National Intelligence Council in September 2002, some 20 million to 25 million Indians may be infected with HIV by 2010, which would give India the highest number of infections in the world.
World Vision currently runs several programs both for high-risk and general population groups infected and affected by AIDS. In Chennai, World Vision runs a center, which provides a home for HIV-positive women and their children, therapeutic feeding for malnourished children, and medication for those infected with the virus.
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