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Figure May be Underestimate Due to Under ReportingAt least 7,200 people in India have died of AIDS-related causes since the country began recording cases in 1986, according to S Y Quraishi, Director of the country's National AIDS Control Organization (NACO).However, the number likely is an underestimate, primarily because of underreporting. NACO data indicates that India recorded 1,114 AIDS-related deaths from 2004 to 2005 and 1,514 deaths from 2003 to 2004. "The cumulative figure is based on anonymous estimates," Quraishi said, adding, "The actual casualty figure could be more, but what happens is that many AIDS deaths are attributed to secondary causes like tuberculosis." He added that many HIV-positive people in India are unaware of their status and that many HIV-positive people do not seek treatment because of a fear of being stigmatized. UNAIDS and the World Health Organization asked the Indian government to report the number of people in the country who had died of AIDS-related causes in 2004 but previously had not been recorded as being HIV-positive in order to determine the total number of HIV-positive people living in India that year. The request came in response to NACO data showing that 28,000 new HIV cases were reported in India in 2004, compared with 520,000 new cases in 2003, a decrease of nearly 95 per cent. The Indian non-governmental organizations Institute for Research in Medical Statistics and the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare used UNAIDS and WHO recommendations to collect the data. However, some AIDS advocates disagree with the numbers because non-governmental organizations that work with HIV-positive people have not registered a corresponding decline in new demand for services. UNAIDS estimates that 5.1 million HIV-positive people live in India, and NACO says about 103,000 of those people are living with AIDS.Kaiser Network 12/Jul/05 |
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