India can't be complacent about future course of AIDS: book

India can't be complacent about future course of AIDS: book
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New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Various programmes on prevention, control and treatment of HIV positive individuals in India have succeeded in breaking the momentum of the epidemic but the country cannot be complacent about the disease's future course, says a new book.

The size of the country, newer additions to the list of affected districts, states and regions and gender and rural-urban differentials have only added to the graveness of the epidemic, Indrani Gupta, Mayur Trivedi and Subodh Kandamuthan write in "Adoption of Health Technologies in India".

With more than five million reported cases of HIV positive individuals, India has the second highest number of infections in the world after South Africa.

According to the writers, the potential of an AIDS vaccine to change the course of the epidemic is immense. "A safe and effective AIDS vaccine can offer large and badly-affected countries considerable benefits in a short time." Since 2001, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative has been partnering with the National AIDS Control Organisation and the Indian Council for Medical Research for developing a vaccine to counter subtype C, the strain of HIV prevalent in the country.

"It is important to put in place mechanisms that ensure that as and when the vaccine becomes available, it is accessible to all who need it," the writers say.

There are several health technologies that have been introduced across the world and also in India, but very little has been documented on their process and success. MORE PTI ZMN VSS ANS 08091438 DEL