AIDS Epidemic Stalking Its Prey Silently

A report commissioned by the UN Development Program on the Macroeconomic and Sectoral Impacts of HIV/AIDS has concluded that the Indian economy would be severely affected in the coming years unless serious measures to control to disease are put in place.

The report says that the unchecked spread of the epidemic in India would cause the economic growth of the country in the next 10-15 years to be less than its potential.

The increased expenditure towards health by government by about 5 percent and households by 10 percent causing a fall in their savings, leaving no room for investment and causing a slowing down of growth. The report estimates that investment as a part of GDP is expected to fall by 1.16 per cent, Government savings as by 0.67 percentage points and household savings by 1.15 percentage points.
 

Selected countries have reached key targets in AIDS control but the Indian subcontinent has been a cause of concern in the global AIDS epidemic control program. It accounts for two-thirds of HIV cases in the whole of Asia.

In India there is an estimated 2-5 million HIV infected people. The most rapid and well-documented spread of infection has occurred in Bombay and the State of Tamil Nadu. In Bombay, HIV prevalence has reached 50% in sex workers, 36% in STD patients, and 2.5% in women seen in antenatal clinics.