India Mission 2007: India... A Vision Realized

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About India

For our international grassroots mission in Asia this summer, we have chosen to travel to the home of the world's most populous democracy, the beautiful land of India. India has for a long time now, had the most HIV and AIDS cases in Asia. With ever-increasing annual rates of infection, it has recently surpassed South Africa to be the most AIDS-victimized country in the world. In fact, ten percent of the world's Population lives in India.

To illustrate the ongoing growth of the AIDS pandemic the Indian National AIDS Control Organization estimated that in 2005, 5.21 million people in the country were living with HIV. But by the end of 2005, India had 5.7 million HIV victims, according to a UNAIDS report. Upon doing the math, you'll find that this is an increas of almost an unbelievable half of a million people, in only one year.

Hence, due to the sheer magnitude and escalating urgency of the AIDS situation in India, we have decided that it will be the next location where we will continue our global outreach program.

Within India, we will specifically visit the province of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is India's sixth most populous state, with a population of 62.4 million people. Along with Andhra Pradesh, Karnakata, Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland, it is one of the India's six high HIV and AIDS prevalence states. Of these six provinces, Tamil Nadu suffers from the highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the country. In fact, over half of the AIDS victims in India can be found in Tamil Nadu.

The plight of Tamil Nadu has been well-addressed by the international AIDS community. At the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006, the story of Tamil Nadu's Asha and Elango were specifically highlighted. Asha, a member of the Indian Positive Network, married Elango, each knowing the other's HIV positive status. "For lifelong championship and support", they explained. However, like every traditional Indian family, Asha's mother-in-law wnated her to give birth. She was faced with the predicament of choosing between the stigma of being a barring women of someone with AIDS.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Avahan scheme funds the highly successful Tamil Nadu Aids Initiative, which in its two years of existence, has become a model for other states to emulate.

 

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