Asia-Pacific

Indian MPs caught on lack of AIDS awareness

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-24 15:22

NEW DELHI - Nearly two thirds of parliamentarians in India, which has the world's highest HIV/AIDS caseload, wrongly believe the virus can spread by sharing clothes with an infected person, a survey said.

The poll of 250 MPs in India's lower and upper houses of parliament, roughly a third of the total, showed that 56 percent felt a person could catch the HIV virus by sharing food and utensils with an infected person.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the survey had some "provocative" findings.

"I believe this brings together some very interesting and provocative material on the perceptions and approach of our elected representatives in a vital area of national policy," he told lawmakers late on Wednesday.

The United Nations AIDS agency, UNAIDS, say India has an around 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS.

But activists say the figure is higher as many people in rural areas may not know their status, while deaths due to AIDS are often ascribed to other diseases like tuberculosis.

Officials say one of the biggest problems they face in combating AIDS is misconceptions about how the virus is spread in a nation where open talk of sex is frowned on by many.

The "Person-to-Person Advocacy" survey, conducted by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, also found 40 percent of lawmakers felt working with an infected person was enough to catch the disease.

Another 22.8 percent surveyed believed the virus could be spread by using a toilet that is also used by HIV-positive people.

"I am not surprised at all," said Anjali Gopalan, executive director of Naz Foundation India, a leading anti-AIDS group.

"It shows that despite our efforts, we still have a lot more to do as the message is just not getting across."

However, 76 percent of those questioned were aware that sex with multiple partners can cause AIDS and that using a condom would reduce the risk of contracting the virus.