India accounts for approximately half of Asia’s HIV epidemic with approximately 2.4 million people living with HIV. In 2009, an estimated 87.4 percent of all infections were related to heterosexual sex and 1.7 percent was related to sex between men. India’s national HIV epidemic is concentrated, though a functional distinction is made between ‘core’ and ‘bridge’ populations. Both receive focused support in India’s National AIDS Control Programme but the intensity of the intervention varies between the two and across geographic areas. The 50 percent decline in incidence attributed to intensified programmatic attention in six high prevalence states serves as possible evidence of the value of this approach.
(NACP – III) articulated the need for enhanced programmatic attention to MSM and was the first to outline a strategy for HIV prevention interventions targeted at hijra and male sex workers. It is thought that funding for targeted prevention interventions for MSM, male sex workers, and hijra is insufficient to meet basic needs for condoms and water-based lubricant.
