STI and HIV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

STI and HIV - Essay Example Nearly 88% of these people are in the sexually active and economically productive age group of 15 to 49 years (National AIDS Control Organization 2006, 11). Therefore, most people living with HIV are in the prime of their working lives with many of them supporting families. The remaining 8% of the infected population are above 50 years and another 4% are children (National AIDS Control Organization 2006, 11). The spread of HIV in India has been very uneven. Although the overall rate of infection in India has been very low, certain regions and certain population groups within the country have extremely high rate of infection. The infection rates are extremely high in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and the far north-east states of Manipur and Nagaland. Together these states account for 64% of the HIV burden in India (National AIDS Control Organization 2006, 14). Prevalence Rates Overall the prevalence of HIV for adult males and females has shown a declining trend in the past five years. In 2006, it was 0.36% while in 2002 it was 0.45% in 2002 (National AIDS Control Organization 2006, 11). ... 2007). One of the major concerns regarding the epidemic of HIV in India is the increase seen in the proportion of infections among children and adults above 50 years. Among children, the prevalence of HIV was 3% in 2002 which increased to 4% in 2006 (National AIDS Control Organization 2006, 13). Similarly, the prevalence of the disease was 6% among adults above the age of 50 which has increased to 8% in 2006 (National AIDS Control Organization 2006, 13). Transmission route In India, nearly 88% of the transmission of STI/HIV happens through heterosexual contact (The World Bank 2008). Other routes of transmission include perinatal (4.7%), unsafe blood and blood products (1.7%), infected needles and syringes (1.8%) and other unspecified routes of transmission (4.1%) (The World Bank 2008). It is interesting to note that in the high prevalence southern states of India, STI/HIV has been found to spread primarily through heterosexual contact while in the high prevalence north-eastern states , the disease has been found to spread mainly among injecting drug users and sex workers (National AIDS Control Organization 2006). Researchers believe that the HIV epidemic in India has followed the ‘type 4’ pattern (The World Bank 2008). This is a pattern where new infections occur among the most vulnerable populations like the female sex workers, men who have sex with men or the injecting drug users. The infection then spreads to ‘bridge’ populations like the clients of sex workers or sexual partners of drug users and finally it enters the general population. Studies have revealed that long distance truck drivers and male migrant workers make up significant proportions of clients of sex workers (UNGASS 2008). In