The World AIDS Day was celebrated in Hyderabad, with ‘Reduction of Stigma and Discrimination’, as the theme. A rally was organized to mark the day. The objective of the campaign was to prevent and eliminate the discrimination of those affected by HIV/AIDS.
The country has the second highest number of HIV positive persons, after South Africa. Around 90 per cent of the HIV infected persons are in the age group of 15-44 years and more than 4 lakh people are living with HIV in AP.
HIV infection through blood transfusion has reduced from four per cent to one per cent in the state. AIDS prevention education programmes were launched in 11, 464 schools, as part of a joint initiation of AP government and UNICEF to provide relevant information on AIDS. In order to prevent parent-to-child transmission, the programme was implemented at 14 medical college hospitals and 23 district hospitals.
The state government is promoting awareness programmes among the high-risk population including slum dwellers, sex workers, truck drivers and street children. Special awareness programmes had been taken up in the highly prevalent districts by involving concerned departments, NGOs and women’s groups. Though there has been an increase in the AIDS cases from 1998 to 2001, the rate has decreased over the last two years in the state.
As per the estimates of UNAIDS, 50 per cent of newly HIV-infected persons are between 15-24 years. Awareness level among the urban women has gone up to 96 per cent in 2002 from 44 per cent in 1998. HIC prevalence among antenatal cases has come down from 2.44 per cent to 1.54 per cent in 2003. HIV transmission through blood transfusion has come down from four per cent to one per cent. People accessing voluntary counseling and testing centers has increased in the state.