Government reports lower AIDS death rate in India

Government reports lower AIDS death rate in IndiaAccording to a new government report, the death rate from AIDS fell in the country from 2008 to 2009, as 1.85 lakh deaths were reported in 2008 compared to 1.70 lakh deaths in 2009 mainly due to improved healthcare services.

On the other hand, States like Assam, Odisha, Kerala, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have recorded a higher number of AIDS-related cases. The states were earlier described as low prevalence States.

The National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) released the `State Fact Sheets' also shows that many states that are seeing emerging epidemics and higher vulnerabilities are the states that have weak health infrastructure and improper implementation capacities, governance and ownership of the program.

The report also says that the lower funds from the government and aid agencies will harm the programme. Government officials say that the efforts to contain eh disease will determine if the gains made on a national level against het disease can be sustained.

The HIV prevalence at national level has continued its steady decline from 0.41% in 2000 through 0.36% in 2006 to 0.31% in 2009. The fall is mainly due to improvements in the antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme in India.