2006-08-08 13:53:17

Rural India plans to step up fight against AIDS


(Augut 08, 2006): -Local leaders from across rural India are to draw up an action plan
to help stem the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in villages, where
the majority of new infections are occuring, officials said on Monday.
AIDS agencies say that of the 5.2 million people infected between
the ages of 15 and 49 years in India, almost 60 percent are in rural
communities, where poverty, ignorance and gender disparities have left
people more vulnerable to the disease. They add that village and district
administrators have the power to spread awareness at the grassroots. "
Denis Broun, UNAIDS country coordinator for India, told a news conference,
"It is very important to come closer to the people, and this is the reason why
there is an important movement in getting the engagement of these people,
who are closest to the population and who are their immediate representatives."
Broun said that representatives from 620 districts, as well and mayors and
other community leaders, would come together for the first time at a convention
on Tuesday, to draw up a strategy on how India could strengthen its local response
to the pandemic.










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