Comments on: Good news about HIV at last?

By: Preet

Preet — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:44:04 +0000

Check this article to find how many lawmakers (MPs) in India have misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d43d0af0-1a14-11dc-99c5-000b5df10621.html

By: ak

ak — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:58:32 +0000

i just read this crazy story about how a husband knew he was HIV+, did not tell his wife, and ended up passing it on (and the story gets worse from there). no details on how he first contracted, though.

By: Ravi the Lurker

Ravi the Lurker — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 21:07:47 +0000

At 43 and 24:

AIDS in India isn't a majority gay issue as it is in the US. The spread of HIV/AIDS in India is primarily from heterosexual truckers sleeping with non-partners and then sleeping with their partners, etc; and from sharing needles. I have no data. Jasoos Vijay was a very popular tv detective serial meant to promote AIDS awareness and discuss general sexual health.

By: sr

sr — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:25:04 +0000

One surprise result of the new numbers- infection rates are much higher in the South than in the North:

Ennis, how exactly is this result surprising?

By: PS

PS — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:04:34 +0000

Also, has there been any analysis on what impact this phenomenon has had on the spread of AIDS in India?

Too funny!

By: Rahul

Rahul — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:40:58 +0000

Also, has there been any analysis on what impact this phenomenon has had on the spread of AIDS in India?

By: Rahul

Rahul — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:12:42 +0000

As for the spread of AIDS in Africa, Emily Oster has some interesting research that makes the point about untreated STDs, as well as a great observation about the lower value placed on one's life in Africa.

BTW, Emily Oster is the one who "explained away" a significant fraction of Amartya Sen's 100 million missing women.

By: Ennis

Ennis — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:07:56 +0000

Although this does reinforce that the socially accepted difference in behaviour is key to the difference in rates and why India's is low in comparison.

Check the bottom third of the post - India's rate is like that of the USA, but the difference between the USA and Africa can be explained in terms of how more contagious AIDS is in Africa than America (due largely to the presence of untreated STDs) and how much longer the disease has been around in Africa than in America.

It's not quite the same thing in India - Africans and Americans have roughly the same numbers of partners over their lifetimes, while I imagine that Indians have fewer, but the larger point stands, that sexual behavior need not be the biggest part of the story.

By: Rahul

Rahul — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:53:53 +0000

RG, do you have statistics on how big a contributor gay sex is to the spread of AIDS in India and in the US? I had a similar question in #24. In India and Africa, my sense is straight extramarital sex is what often brings the virus home to wifey.

There is more sex than you think.

Really? And here I was under the impression that it was all parthenogenesis.

By: Ajit

Ajit — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:39:27 +0000

You’re right of course, had a lapse of thinking there. Although this does reinforce that the socially accepted difference in behaviour is key to the difference in rates and why India’s is low in comparison.