Stemming the Tide: Successes, Failures and Lessons Learned in Tamil Nadu, India
Author(s)
Parameswaran, Gowri
Abstract
There are three stages that societies go through as AIDS begins to assume the form of an epidemic. Initially, small numbers of people within some pockets of the population that is at high-risk for infections begin to test sero-positive. In India, these pockets were comprised of truck drivers, commercial sex workers, hemophiliacs, men having sex with other men and IV drug users. This is probably the best time for any country to stem the spread of AIDS through both prevention activities as well as providing adequate treatment for those infected. In the second state, AIDS begins to spread to urban and industrialized centers where workers from other parts of the country migrate. At-risk populations begin to exhibit a high rate of infection. There is a very narrow window of opportunity to help stall the spread of the infection at this point. In the third phase, AIDS takes on a truly epidemic character. This article examines the AIDS epidemic in Tamil Nadu and discusses successes, failures and lessons learned.
