Description

India with over one billion inhabitants is one of the largest and the highly populated countries in the world. In 2009 it was estimated that 2.4 million people were living with HIV in India, which equates to a prevalence of 0.3 per cent (UNAIDS, 2010). While this may seem low, because India's population is so large, it is third in the world in terms of greatest number of people living with HIV/AIDS. With a population of around a billion, a mere 0.1 per cent increase in HIV prevalence would increase the estimated number of people living with HIV by over half a million. In India, as elsewhere, AIDS is often seen as 'someone else's problem' - as something that affects people living on the margins of society, whose lifestyle is are considered immoral. Even as it moves into the general population, the HIV epidemic is still misunderstood among the Indian public. People living with HIV have faced violent attacks, been rejected by families, spouses and communities, been refused medical treatment, and even, in some reported cases, denied the last rites before they die (UNDP, 2006). Adding to the suffering of people living with HIV, this discrimination is hindering efforts to prevent new infections. Since such strong reactions to HIV and AIDS exist, it is difficult to educate people about how they can avoid infection. AIDS outreach workers and peer-educators have reported harassment (Human Rights News, 2002), and in schools, teachers sometimes face negative reactions from the parents of children for teaching them about AIDS. The advent of HIV/AIDS in the world has forced all of us to accept a paradigm shift