India doesn’t seem to have learnt its lessons yet, because there appears to be a lackadaisical approach in curbing the spread of AIDS/HIV. Next only to South Africa with the highest number of AIDS/HIV cases, the figure touching a mammoth five million mark as per statistics in 2003, very little has been done ever since to bring down the number of AIDS/HIV cases, according to Prof Suzanne Crowe, Deputy Chairperson of Australia-India Council (AIC).
Much to her consternation, the updated data on the number of AIDS/HIV cases are yet to be provided. She said ''With the Government not coming out with the latest figures and with only five per cent of the youth subjected to HIV/AIDS test, it is very difficult to judge the present scenario.”Notwithstanding the recent study, that had shown a marked decline in AIDS cases in Southern India, she recommended that utmost caution be exercised in the understanding of the results
According to her, India has reached this unenviable position owing to population explosion, poverty and illiteracy which have fueled the spread AIDS/HIV. We must take cues from Australia, where the country had managed to bring down the number of AIDS/HIV cases to less than 10,000, by just education, creating awareness both amongst urban and rural people. It is imperative that India pull up its socks quickly to halt the rise of AIDS/HIV cases in its tracks.
