Women, Girls Bear The Brunt Of AIDS In India

Indian women as well as girls, already more vulnerable to HIV infection than other groups, now carry the burden of caring for a member of the family who is infected with the disease.

It is usually young girls who are likely to be pulled out of schools to cope with household chores and caring for the ill, indicates a study on the Gender Impact of HIV and AIDS in India.

The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) estimates that in 2005, women account for approximately two million of the 5.2 million cases of HIV and AIDS – that is 39 percent of all HIV infections.

The burden of caring for People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) is also higher when it comes to women. Of the 882 caregivers in the families surveyed, 627 were women. Twenty percent of the women-caregivers themselves were HIV positive as compared to 16 percent in the case of men.

The study conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (MCAER) and supported by the NACO and the United Nations Development Program (UNCP), concluded that the women’s workload at home not only increases but often they are required to take up employment to supplement lost earnings.