NEW DELHI (AP) -- Experts originally said India had the most HIV cases in the world -- 5.7 million -- and that number could rise unless aggressive measures were adopted.
Yesterday, that consensus changed dramatically when international AIDS experts and Indian health officials revealed new data showing India to have less than half of that number -- 2.5 million people -- infected with HIV.
The government and the international community are paying more attention and spending more money to fight AIDS in India. Yesterday, the Indian health minister announced a new phase of the federal AIDS control program, with the Indian government pledging $1.95 billion -- nearly 40 times what it spent in the last round.
The plan has an expected budget of $2.8 billion and has attracted high-profile donors. The previous plan, announced in 1999, had a budget of less than $350 million.
Expanded surveys and an improved methodology provided a far more accurate -- and more encouraging -- portrait of India's HIV epidemic, said Health Minister Anubani Ramadoss.
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