Abstract

Introduction 

Since the initial cases of HIV/AIDS were identified in June 1981 in Los Angeles, USA, there have been tremendous advances in the field of HIV prevention, diagnosis, care and treatment globally. As per UNAIDS estimates an adult HIV prevalence of 0.8% and considerable variation between countries, 36.7 million (30.8- 42.9 million) people were estimated to be living with HIV globally. Approximately 1.8 million new infections occurred worldwide and approximately 1.0 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses. The country’s epidemic is concentrated among high-risk groups and is heterogeneously distributed with wide geographic variations in the vulnerabilities that drive the epidemic. Even with this low prevalence, India has the third highest burden of HIV in the world with an estimated 2.14 million people living with HIV, 87,000 estimated new infections and 69,000 AIDS-related deaths annually. The first few cases of HIV in the country were detected among female sex workers in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in 1986, followed by reports from other parts of the country.