They say it takes 6-10 years for the first symptoms to develop and infected people can pass it on to several others in that time
American actor Charlie Sheen's revelation earlier this week about him being HIV positive has again brought the issue into focus in Mumbai. Experts say they are not really worried about new cases but about people silently battling the syndrome and showing reluctance in getting a diagnosis and help.
Members of the Mumbai District of AIDS Control Society (MDACS) and other experts say people with high-risk behaviour for the infection are not willing to go for testing, putting others at risk. They added that the elite class of the society, especially, is yet to accept the gravity of the situation, due to various reasons including social stigma.
MDACS additional project director Dr Shrikala Acharya said, "While there is a dip in overall prevalence rate in new infection cases across India, our worry is that people with high risk behaviour, who are either over confident and think they won't get an infection or because of social stigma, are staying away. " She added that the disease was asymptomatic for a long time and so many do not realise that they are HIV positive.
"It is being noticed there is a long gap between getting the infection to starting of the treatment. We have to target and reduce this gap period among people with high-risk behaviour, as they can spread the infection to others. People go to a doctor only when they are not well," said Dr Acharya.
Agreeing to her, well-known infectious disease expert Dr Om Shrivastav said, "It is more to do with the mindset of people who think the disease cannot affect me. People with high-risk behaviour should act responsibly, and use protection to save themselves and their partners."
He added that once a person gets infected, it takes around 6-10 years before he or she starts showing symptoms. "In this period, if the person is not aware of his or her HIV status, they can infect others," said Dr Shrivastav.
At present in Mumbai, as many as 44,311 people are living with active care for HIV or AIDS. According to MDACS, in general, clients in intergrated counselling and testing centre (ICTC) of MDACS have seen a 38 per cent decline in sero-positivity from 2009 to 2014. It has seen a 57 per cent decline in sero-positivity in pregnant women in the same period.
"While all segments in the high-risk category are seeing a dip in sero-positivity, we now want to get involved in aggressive advocacy for youth and high-class society," said Dr Acharya. She, however, said there is a roadblock that MDACS is facing in preparation of integrated counselling for this segment.
"We had proposed to National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to make a one-minute film, targeting the youth and higher class society. We were, however, denied funding. At present, none of the NACO short films for IC are for this segment," she said. MDACS is now looking for external funding.
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