New Delhi: A recent UNICEF report says that women in India are more at risk of contracting HIV because few Indian men have knowledge of AIDS and this leads to greater risk for their spouses.
The report also said that gender discrimination denies women the negotiating power they need to reduce their risk of infection.
High rates of illiteracy among women prevent them from knowing about the risks of HIV infection and possible protection strategies, it said.
"The dramatic increase in infection among women heightens the risk of infection among children. Infants become infected through their mothers during pregnancy," the report said.
The report reveals that 17 per cent of men have knowledge about HIV/AIDS, as compared to the 21 per cent of women in India.
“Women are at least twice as likely as men to become infected with HIV during sex. By 2005, nearly half of the 39 million people living with HIV were women in the world," said the State of the World's Children 2007 report.
Estimating the adult (15 and above) HIV prevalence rate to 0.9 per cent, the report said between 1999 and 2005, 59 per cent of men in India have used condoms, as compared to 51 per cent of women.
"Women are at greater risk of contracting HIV than men," it said.
According to National AIDS Control Organisation, there are 5.2 million HIV infected people living in India, out of which about 39 per cent of them are women.
(With agency inputs)
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