India overtakes South Africa in numbers of AIDS victims?

The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) has just issued the following information about an important event in New York this week (if you are a member of the Press and can't make it, you can contact Kavya Rajan below to help you set up an intererview with Dr. Solomon):

> New York (AIF), July 14, 2006 – The American India Foundation (AIF)
> is pleased to announce a briefing by Dr. Suniti Solomon on
> ‘Frontline Perspectives from India: Progress and Challenges in
> Combating the HIV/AIDS Virus’ on Thursday July 20, 2006 from 6:00
> p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 845 Third Avenue, New York NY 10028.
>
> Dr. Suniti Solomon is founder of YRG Care and one of India’s most
> prominent HIV/AIDS activists working to provide treatment and care
> for marginalized groups in India.
>
> Rema Nanda, Director of AIF’s HIV/AIDS Program, says, “Providing
> the public with opportunities to interact directly with those on
> the frontlines of combating AIDS in India is an important part of
> AIF’s campaign to educate people and mobilize resources for
> preventing the current 5.7 million HIV-infected Indians from
> spiraling out of control.”

> In 2006 India surpassed South Africa as the country with the
> largest number of HIV/AIDS infections. Dr. Solomon points out, “If
> we ever reach a prevalence rate of ten or twelve percent there will
> be total chaos! You can imagine, we have one billion people in
> India and so even the slightest increase in prevalence means a
> significant increase in infections.”
>
> In 1986 Dr. Solomon and her colleagues documented the first
> evidence of HIV infection in India. Deeply concerned with the
> rapid rise in infections, she founded YRG CARE in 1993 to provide
> urgently needed HIV/AIDS treatment and care services. Today, YRG
> Care provides health care for over 4,500 persons living with HIV
> and voluntary counseling and testing services to over 15,000
> clients. YRG Care is also a premier medical and behavioral research
> center.
>
> Dr. Solomon is a member of the National Technical Team on Women and
> AIDS, an advisory board member of the International AIDS Vaccine
> Initiative, a permanent member on the Microbicides Committee of the
> Indian Council of Medical Research and a member of India's Country
> Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria.
>
> For press passes to the briefing and interviews with Dr. Solomon,
> please contact Kavya Rajan immediately: kavya@aifoundation.org /
> (646) 530-8964. Include your name, media affiliation, contact
> information and proposed story idea.
>
> # # #
>
> PRESS CONTACT
> Kavya Rajan
> kavya@aifoundation.org / (646) 530-8964
>
> American India Foundation
> 845 Third Avenue, 4th Floor
> New York, NY 10022
>
> http://www.AIFoundation.org Sphere: Related Content