India halves estimated HIV/AIDS numbers to 2.5 million

India's National AIDS Control Organization, supported by the UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, has conducted an audit of the number of people in the country who are affected by HIV/AIDS. As a result of more accurate census methods, the estimated national adult HIV prevalence is now believed to be 0.36% of the population, a range of two million to 3.1 million people.

The previous estimate was over 5.7 million, making India the country with the largest HIV/AIDS-infected population. That title now reverts to South Africa (Marketletter April 23).

According to the WHO, the new calculation method has made it possible to back date estimated numbers of HIV/AIDS sufferers in India. The result indicates a stable trend since 2002, with a small drop in 2006. K Sujatha Rao, the head of the NACO, warned against a complacent reading of the figures. She said: "the calculation of figures for several years using the new model helps us understand that the new lower estimates do not mean a sharp decline in the epidemic." Ms Rao added that similar falls in estimated HIV/AIDS-infected populations has occurred in Rwanda and Zambia.