World AIDS Day: 57% drop in new HIV cases in India

New Delhi: A 57 percent drop has been recorded in number of new HIV infections in India during the past one decade, according to latest figures from National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

The NACO report, released by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Friday, also says nearly 1.5 lakh lives have been saved due to free ART medicines provided to HIV/AIDS patients. The report, released on the eve of World AIDS Day, says adult HIV prevalence at national level has continued its steady decline from estimated level of 0.41 percent in 2001 through 0.35 percent in 2006 to 0.27 percent in 2011. The estimated number of people living with HIV was 20,88,642 in 2011, the report said. It is estimated that about 1.48 lakh people died of AIDS related causes in 2011 in India. Deaths among HIV infected children account for 7 percent of all AIDS-related deaths. IANS