Positive Caste: AIDS in India
The highest rates of HIV infection in India lie quietly multiplying in west and central India (Maharashtra and Karnataka), south India (Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh), and east India (Manipur and Nagaland). It takes one look at a map to realize that together, these areas cover 3/4 of the entire country.
In 2003, the government supervised NACO (the National AIDS Control Organization) declared 4 million confirmed HIV positive cases, but looming in the background is the possibility of another 16 million carrying the disease unaware of their status and risk.
In this mainly rural country, where 70% of the population is farmers, education of basic hygiene and sanitary practices takes center stage as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention wait in the background.
The discrimination and stigma attached to HIV+ people is rampant in India. To find out they are positive, one risks being disowned by their family, ostracized by the community, denied medical care, and without work. It is much easier to live life as one always has, ignoring the risks, and in many cases passing the disease to others.
Commissioned by Amnesty International
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