Indian lawmakers and AIDS awareness

Nearly two thirds of parliamentarians in India, which has the world's highest HIV/AIDS patients, wrongly believe the virus can spread by sharing clothes with an infected person. The Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development conducted a survey and found that 40 percent of lawmakers felt that 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 has been used by HIV-positive people. The poll of 250 Members of Parliament 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. 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. The survey brings together some very interesting and provocative material on the perceptions and approach of our elected representatives in a vital area of national policy. According to the United Nations AIDS agency, UNAIDS, 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 opportunistic infections like tuberculosis. Officials say the biggest problem they face in combating AIDS is the misconception about how the virus is spread in a nation where open talk of sex is frowned on by many. This reflects that despite efforts, there is a lot more to do, as the message is not getting across.