NEW DELHI, 7 June: India, which has been repeatedly accused of denying the size of its AIDS epidemic, probably has millions fewer victims than has been widely believed, according to a new but still unreleased household survey.
The survey was carried out under international supervision with American financing.
If it is correct, India is no longer the worlds supposed leader – with 5,7 million people infected with the virus, according to the official United Nations 2006 estimate – but is again behind South Africa, which is believed to have more accurate survey results and has an estimated 5,5 million cases, and possibly other countries as well.
Early analysis of the figures suggests that India really has between two and three million victims, according to several sources, including American epidemiologists who know the data and the Health Ministry here.
How the rates are calculated has been a subject of debate, with some experts contending that the rates in many places may be exaggerated.
Kilde: The Push journal
