Subcontinent a major worry in AIDS pandemic: UN

The world's second-most populous nation has overtaken South Africa as the country with the most people living with the HIV virus, the specialised agency UNAIDS said.

An estimated 5.7 million Indians were infected by the end of 2005, the Geneva-based body said in its biennial study of the global epidemic.

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That compared with an estimated 5.5 million people in South Africa, which is grappling with one of the highest infection rates per capita in Africa, the hardest-hit continent, said UNAIDS.

However, India's overall rate of adult infections paled compared to South Africa's because of the relative size of the population of the two countries.

While 18.8 percent of South African adults were living with HIV, the figure in India was 0.9 percent.

Overall, Indian HIV cases accounted for two-thirds of Asia's total.

Estimates of total deaths in India since AIDS was first identified globally in 1981 range from 270,000 to 680,000.

Most of the infections there were caused by unprotected heterosexual intercourse, according to UNAIDS.

States in southern India have traditionally been the hardest hit by the disease: in Tamil Nadu, for example, HIV rates of 50 percent have been found among prostitutes.

However, these regions have also made strides in fighting the disease. Tamil Nadu scaled up prevention efforts in the 1990s.

In northern states, injecting drug use was the main driver of HIV infection, and there was little or no progress in cutting rates there even though they were lower than in the south, said UNAIDS.

Nationwide, only seven percent of Indians who needed antiretroviral HIV/AIDS drugs were actually being treated last year.

In addition, only 1.6 percent of pregnant women who needed treatment to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission were receiving it.

UNAIDS also sounded a warning about neighbouring Pakistan.