New Delhi

“Indians uncertain of AIDS facts”

NEW DELHI: Indians rank HIV/AIDS as the most serious health problem facing the country today, and despite several awareness campaigns 59 per cent of the surveyed population still wrongly believe that there is a cure available for the disease. Encouragingly, though, a high percentage of Indians understand that AIDS is fatal.

Also, many Indians cite a lack of access to information on HIV/AIDS and how it is contracted as the top issue contributing to the spread of the deadly virus. Confusion and misperceptions on the disease dominate public opinion, reveals a new global study conducted by the MAC AIDS Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Estée Lauder-owned MAC Cosmetics, in the run-up to World AIDS Day on December 1.

The study also revealed that 65 per cent of Indians report stigma and shame to be major contributing factors and barriers to overcoming the epidemic. People in India, according to the survey, are also uncomfortable interacting on intimate levels with those who are HIV-positive, with 44 per cent not being comfortable sharing the same physician as someone with HIV/AIDS, 38 per cent reporting that they feel uncomfortable working alongside a person with HIV/AIDS, and 41 per cent saying they do not want to live in the same house as someone who has the virus.

Said MAC AIDS Fund chairman John Demsey: “ We need to improve basic education about the realities of the disease, and do some serious work to do away with the sense of shame and stigma.” The findings also reveal that despite the recent increased public awareness of HIV and AIDS, Indians remain uncertain of the facts and realities associated with the disease. Seventy-two per cent of those polled believe that the spread of the disease has grown in global urgency in recent years, and 75 per cent of Indians feel this urgency is reflected in their own country.

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