India May Surpass South Africa as Country With Largest HIV-Positive Population
India could soon have the highest HIV-positive population in the world if the disease continues to spread "unchecked," U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill said on Wednesday, AP/Yahoo! News reports. UNAIDS estimates that four million HIV-positive people live in India, making the country second only to South Africa in number of people infected with the virus. An estimated 4.7 million South Africans are HIV-positive. Blackwill cited a recent report prepared by the U.S. government stating that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in India could rise to 25 million by 2010. However, the Indian government has said that the HIV infection rate in the country is "stabilizing," partly because of the success of HIV prevention programs (AP/Yahoo! News, 11/6). The United States has donated $63 million to India over the past five years for HIV prevention efforts (Press Trust of India, 11/6). Over the next five years, the United States plans to almost double this amount to $120 million (AP/Yahoo! News, 11/6). Blackwill also cited two joint U.S.-India vaccine development efforts that aim to bring more AIDS vaccines into clinical trials (Press Trust of India, 11/6).
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