MADURAI: Ignorance of the next step to be taken after testing positive for human immuno virus (HIV) among rural people has revealed a new dimension to management of HIV/AIDS, following a significant shift in profile from urban to rural.
These people accept death as the only possibility after testing positive.
Pointing to the figures compiled by AIDS Care Centre of Family Planning Association of India here since 1999, Louis S. Paulraj, its manager, said that the admission of new people living with HIV (PLHIV) to the centre had gone up ten fold, compared to 1999-2000.
In 1999-2000, it admitted 82 HIV positive persons of whom 73 per cent were in the age group of 15 to 34 years. Among them, 61 per cent belonged to urban areas and, in terms of occupation, 40 per cent were drivers. Over the years, there has been a spurt in the number of new PLHIV from 82 to 837 in 2006-2007 of whom more than 80 per cent belong to rural areas.
The swing was now away from high-risk categories to low-risk categories such as housewives, Dr. Paulraj said.
Printer friendly
page Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
