More soldiers killed by AIDS than bullets in India's northeast
Fri Apr 22, 2:33 AM ET South Asia - AFP



SHILLONG, India (AFP) - Indian defence authorities sounded a health alert with scores of soldiers engaged in anti-insurgency operations in the country's troubled northeast struck by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.


AFP/File Photo



"The time has come to wake up with HIV infection among our troops assuming serious dimensions. Now we find more soldiers dying to HIV-AIDS than to bullets fired by militants," Lieutenant General Bhopinder Singh, Director General of Assam Rifles, said in Meghalaya state capital Shillong on Friday.


"We have a challenge at hand and we need to tackle it sensitively," he told AFP at the force headquarters.


The Assam Rifles is a premier paramilitary force of 55,000 troops deployed in the rugged jungles of the northeast against some 30 guerrilla groups waging insurgencies for independent homelands or greater autonomy.


The first HIV-positive Assam Rifles soldier was detected in 1992.


Since then, 32 Assam Rifles soldiers have died of AIDS and 180 more are in serious condition at two treatment camps in the region.


After random blood screening, Assam Rifles doctors sounded the alert saying the number of soldiers infected with HIV was alarming.


Doctors with army and other paramilitary and police units in the northeast also say they are concerned but have not carried out the random blood screening that has revealed the extent of the spread of HIV among the Assam Rifles.


While the percentage of soldiers suffering from HIV-AIDS is in line with the less than half a percent of India's total population, experts say soldiers deployed in the region are still ignorant about how the illness spreads.


"We find awareness levels about how HIV spreads very low among soldiers," said S.I. Ahmed, an AIDS specialist from Assam's main city of Guwahati.


The Assam Rifles held a day-long HIV-AIDS awareness campaign Friday in Shillong with a host of celebrities, including actor Shilpa Shetty and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, taking part.


As part of the drive, Assam Rifles soldiers were being given free condoms.


One paramilitary soldier, who asked not to be named, said he was devastated when doctors told him last weekend that he had tested HIV-positive.


"I was traumatized," he said.


Promiscuity explains the spread of HIV.


"We're invariably stressed out and monotony sets in working in isolated and hostile terrain for a long period," the soldier said. "So the easy way to relax is to go for casual sex. And I also did that without really knowing the consequences."


"In most cases we have found the soldiers mingling with the locals and then going for unprotected sex to fight stress and fatigue," one Assam Rifles doctor said. "Life away from families for a longer duration is one of the reasons."



The New Delhi government on Wednesday strongly disputed claims by an international anti-AIDS group that India has outstripped South Africa as the country with the highest tally of people living with HIV-AIDS.

Officially South Africa has 5.3 million infected people and India 5.1 million.

However, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Richard Feachem, said the official statistics were wrong and India had overtaken South Africa.

India's northeast has been declared as one of the country's high-risk zones with close to 100,000 people infected with HIV.






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comments?

apparently there should be more indian HIV cases than SOuth African HIV cases, however, the official records are 5.1 indian and 5.3 indian

though these numbers have been politically tampered with, also, there woujld be uncoutable number of more people affected with HIV that was not recorded

currently besides the rifle and bullets, indian soliders are also equjipped with condoms

the northeastern part of india, assam, has the highest rate of Aids in india

how these soliders gets aids is quite a mystery, not many have told, currently these ways of getting HIV viruses have been politically tampered with as well

"Politically tampered with"?

This isn't China, friend. The HIV problem is openly acknowleged and discussed in India; hardly akin to a PRC-like SARS denial. Whether enough education is given about the problem, no. There should always be education on STDs.

While India may have the largest HIV population or not, people really need to put it in perspective, seeing that India has more people than the entire Western Hemisphere put together. Hardly an epidemic. It's AIDs infection rate is similar to other non-African developing nations.

edit -- I actually wonder what China's real HIV population is. I'm sure its comparable to India, but for the fact that as a free state India encourages/publishes/doesn't censor population studies by NGOs or Govt agencies.

The PRC Govt's outright denials and trivialization of the SARS, Chicken flu, etc. cases obviously put in doubt every medical statistic coming out of her.


PS: condoms are issued by every variety of militaries. Including (I hope!) the PLA. As for how they got AIDs, well, I don't think you have to have much imagination to deduce.

Hi,

AIDS is a Serious Problem in Asia after Africa.......... China is not far behind in this .

Even though 5.1 Millian are suspected in India it amounts to about 0.2% of the total population ............ In contrast south Africa's 5.3 Millan amounts to about more than 25 % ( Figures as in 2001-2003 ) of total Population ............. soIn India it's still managable but tough Steps would have to be taken .......... We India , China and Russia have to take lessons form South Africa and wake up when we have time .............. it's really scary how Quickly it Spread in South Africa .



Predicting of HIV cases in Asia

Predicting the future global spread of HIV is very complex and few studies attempt it.

This analysis by the US intelligence community looked at several countries which are likely to see large numbers of new infections.

It estimated the number of people likely to be living with HIV by 2010.

The UN has predicted similar trends, estimating that China will have 10m cases by 2010 and India 20-25m.

Asia is the fastest-growing HIV region in the world. There was a 50% increase in infections in East Asia between 2002 and 2004, for which the growing epidemics in China, Indonesia and Vietnam were largely responsible. East Asia also shows the sharpest rise in cases among women - 56% in the past two years. The Asian epidemic is fuelled by injecting drug use, sex work and sex between men, but is starting to spread more widely from these high-risk groups..


Pece

lol, again this has turned into a china bashing your countrys worse mines even better thread

this post was to accomledge the probelm

i find it strange that in the military so many people have aids, probably due to homesexual or local causes

Hi,

i find it strange that in the military so many people have aids, probably due to homesexual or local causes

80% of all HIV Transmissions in India as Form Hetro-Sexual exchange ......... that breaks the steriotype that HIV is a Homo-Sexual 's Disease........... The News Article Specifically Say Because Solders Sometimes Indulge in casual Sex with the Locals....

"We're invariably stressed out and monotony sets in working in isolated and hostile terrain for a long period," the soldier said. "So the easy way to relax is to go for casual sex. And I also did that without really knowing the consequences."


"In most cases we have found the soldiers mingling with the locals and then going for unprotected sex to fight stress and fatigue," one Assam Rifles doctor said. "Life away from families for a longer duration is one of the reasons."

...And as we all know North-East India has the Most Consetraction of HIV cases...... the Commander Lieutenant General Bhopinder Singh, Director General of Assam Rifles( who has been Quoted in the Article) was saying on the Part of Assam Rifels a paramillitary Force which is one of the forces Guarding North east..

Second This Discussion Would have Indulged China you might call it china bashing but i would call it a common Problem .......... as Most of the China -Pakistan Forums have been Mocking this Particular detail without Considering that AIDS is a Serious Issue Not Only India but an All of ASIA especially India , Russia and China ........... these Threee countries are HIV Timebombs ready to explode.

Peace

If you seriously think HIV is a 'homosexual disease', you're quite ignorant of the illness and need to take a sex-ed class or otherwise educate yourself on the subject.

Nothing more to say. Except that, at least for your sake, I hope you use protection.

Its worrying that information about how aids is spread is not being released in China, covering it up does no-one any good.

Its good to hear that the military in india are giving condoms out, hope information about how Aids is spread is being passed out as well.

The result of this topics is like "You can't discuss anything about me, because you are maybe worst than me, China."

I want to know more about India, its programs, Indian mentality towards this disease, and the situation. I sure don't need someone to tell me how bad China is on an Indian topic. That will be a different topic.

Hi,

The First case of HIV was detected in Chennai (Madras) in 1986 ............ A year later in 1987 National AIDS Control Programme was launched with the program activities covering surveillance, screening blood and blood products and health education............... In 1992 the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) was established.

Now It's NACO's JOb to Formulate Policies and control and Educational programmes........... NACO has a Office in Every state in India.

Even though the HIV prevalence rate is low Approx 0.9%,........... but Due to the Large Population the Overall Numbers are straggring............ Just 0.1 Percent Increase means half a Million People .

More than 70% of the HIV/AIDS is related to Hetro-Sexual Sex ......... So anybody who has the Myth that HIV/AIDS is a HomoSexual Disease needs to Wake up Quickly............ Up Till now most of the Infection and spread was related to what we call the High Risk Groups (Sex workers,Injecting drug users,Truck drivers etc ) ......... but slowly the Virus has been seeping into the Mainstream Life.

HIV /AIDS in the northeastern states of Manipur , Mizoram and Assam are alarming ........... and Accouding to NACO it's mostly related to injecting drug users in the Northeast..............HIV infection in India is concentrated among poor, marginalized groups, including commercial sex workers, truck drivers, migrant laborers........... According to NACO, the predominant mode of HIV transmission is through heterosexual contact ,followed by intravenous drug use.

Apart Form the TV advertisment that pops Almost every Now and then .............India manufactures more than 1.5 billion condoms annually out of which more than 891 million condoms are meant to be handed out free.

Peace