The Strategies of Combating HIV/AIDS

The spread of AIDS has not been uniform throughout the country. The AIDS epidemic has reached the third phase, which means it is has attacked the general population. Thousand of innocent housewives and children are caught in the grip of deadly virus. This has resulted from passivity and subservience of the average Indian family and her consequent inability to negotiate safe sex. India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infection from a few thousand in the early 1990's to a working estimate of between 3.8- 4.6 million living with HIV / AIDS in 2002. The paper aims to understand situation and combating strategies of HIV / AIDS in India. National AIDS Control Programme in the country was launched in 1987 and in 1992 the National AIDS Control Organization came into being. During phase-1 of the programme (1992- 1998) many states were in the elementary stages of setting up the infrastructure and proper reporting of AIDS cases. Phase -2 of the programme began in 1999 with emphasis on blood safely information and education control of sexually transmitted disease and promotion of condoms.