San Francisco Chronicle Continues Five-Part Series Examining AIDS in India
In advance of the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, next week, when "[w]orld attention will focus on the threat AIDS poses to Asia," the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday began a five-part series on AIDS in India. Experts believe that the "key" to HIV/AIDS trends in Asia lie with India, the most populous nation in the world, according to the Chronicle. Other articles in the series focused on women and AIDS; AIDS among the country's commercial sex workers; and prevention campaigns at truck stops (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/6). A summary of the fourth article in the series appears below:
- "Drugs for a Few: Disease Strikes Five Million-Only the Lucky Get Medicine, Government's Slack Taken up by Tireless Informal Network:" Although there are more people living with HIV in India than in any other country besides South Africa, HIV/AIDS prevention is "underfunded, treatment is spotty" and access to brand-name drugs is a "luxury saved for the wealthy or the lucky," the Chronicle reports. However, India's "best weapon" against AIDS may be its "vast network" of "mom-and-pop" nongovernmental organizations that address the disease, according to the Chronicle.
Chronicle medical writer Sabin Russell traveled to India for five weeks earlier this year as part of a fellowship from the Kaiser Family Foundation (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/7).
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