HIV spreading in rural areas, infects more women
Mar 9
[Health News] New Delhi, Mar 9 : Safe sex practices between high- risk people and their regular partners are noticeably low and lead to the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from urban to rural areas which infect more and more women, a US study has said. In a series of studies, which tracked HIV and STDs in areas of high prevalence in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, it was found that stigma and inacurate information about the disease is playing a critical role in its spread, a US embassy release said here today. Among the sex workers, who participated in the study, rates of sexually transmitted infections were as high as 56 per cent, it said. Studies, funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID), were carried out by the AIDS Prevention Control Project (APAC) and the Avert Project, it said. Research, conducted in areas where disease levels were highest, was aimed at testing attitudes about HIV/AIDS and behaviour pattern that impact its spread, the release said. The data showed overall HIV infection rates in Tamil Nadu were on a downward trend which was a result of intensive prevention and vigorous surveillance efforts of USAID-funded APAC partners, it said. In light of the fact that the rates of sexually-transmitted infections are similar in rural and urban areas especially in Tamil Nadu, there is a need to re-focus prevention activities to include rural areas, the release added. PTI
source: newkerala.com