Washington, Nov 14: With four million suffering from HIV/AIDS India has reached a point where the disease can become a pandemic, world bank experts have warned but said it still has time to prevent such a disaster by taking prompt measures. India, said Hnin Pyne, a senior public health specialist on south Asia human development at the World Bank, is today where Sub-Sahara Africa was 10 years ago.
India has reached the critical one per cent of pregnant women going to pre-natal and child health clinics being diagnosed as victims of HIV-AIDS and the percentage is increasing, though with regional variation, a World Bank release said.
Pyne said Indian states where HIV/AIDS is found to be most prevalent are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland. The virus is contracted either through unprotected sex or through needles used by drug-users.
HIV/AIDS has also hit other south Asian countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan but on a lesser scale.
Bureau Report