New AIDS infections down by over 1 lakh

India had reassuring news on the HIV/AIDS front on World AIDS Day on Tuesday. The number of HIV positive people in the country had declined by 400,000 over the last five years and new infections were down by at least 100,000 per year.

"In 2002, over 27 lakh (2.7 million) people in India were HIV positive. The number has gone down to 23 lakh (2.3 million) in 2007. We have reduced the number by over 400,000," health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on the occasion of World AIDS Day here.

India is home to 2.3 million HIV positive people, third in terms of absolute numbers in the world. South Africa and Nigeria are the top two countries.

"AIDS is not spreading like earlier. It is stable now. Earlier, over 350,000 people were getting infected every year but for the last two years the new infections have reduced to 2 lakh to 2.5 lakh," Ajay Khera, assistant director general of the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) said.

He said the huge investment to tackle HIV/AIDS and the large-scale awareness drive were key in mobilizing people against the dreaded disease. "The life span of HIV positive people has increased due to medical intervention and the use of condoms has also increased. These factors are primarily responsible for such a positive change," Khera added.
He informed that over 200,000 people are also dying in India due to AIDS every year.