Speeches and Remarks

HIV/AIDS is Killing Innocent Women and Girls
By David C. Mulford, U.S. Ambassador to India

December 01, 2004

(This signed article appeared in December 1, 2004 issue of The Hindu)

Today is World AIDS Day, a day of remembrance for the over 20 million people worldwide who have died from this disease and the tens of millions suffering from it today. The people of the United States join with the people of India in mourning the lives that have been lost to HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is the most serious public health challenge facing India today. India is at a critical juncture in the epidemic. While millions are already infected, it is estimated that last year 500,000 more Indians contracted the virus. We still can contain this epidemic, and I am pleased to re-affirm America's support to India in combating the scourge of this disease.

The theme for World AIDS Day this year is "Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS." In India 36% of the people estimated to be living with HIV are women, and the potential for a much higher number is real. In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion is 57 percent. Young girls are particularly vulnerable, in some African communities, as many as 20 percent of girls aged 15-19 are infected, compared to just 5 percent of boys the same age. Worldwide, almost 50 percent of HIV-positive people are women.

HIV is spreading rapidly among females for many reasons. The lower status of women and girls and practices such as male infidelity, prostitution, child sexual abuse, and sex trafficking are important factors. In addition, male-to-female HIV transmission during sex is about twice as likely to occur as female-to-male transmission.

In India, awareness of HIV/AIDS among women is also distressingly low -- only 20 percent of women in some areas have correct knowledge about the disease. Women are less likely to access care and treatment and are often subject to severe stigma and discrimination, even within their own families. Reports also indicate that the rate of female injecting drug use, another common way HIV/AIDS is transmitted, is increasing.

Even when they are not themselves infected, women are victimized by HIV/AIDS in other ways. They are essential caretakers, caring for the sick and raising orphaned children. They also suffer from stigma and rejection by family and neighbors.

Mary, a 30-year-old woman living near Chennai, provides a powerful story of hope. Her husband abruptly abandoned her, pregnant, after learning she was HIV positive. When she went into labor she was refused treatment by one hospital and referred to another. Fearing a second rejection, she returned home, only to give birth en route. Her neighbors, when they learned she had been refused from a hospital, asked her to vacate her house, at which point her mother contacted the NGO Community Health Education Society (CHES) for help.

CHES provided immediate basic medical advise, but more importantly worked extensively with her neighbors to show them she was not a threat. CHES staff spent time with Mary and the baby, kissed the child publicly and drank water from Mary's house. They visited her regularly and now notice she receives open support from her neighbors.

While U.S.-India relations have never been better -- some say they are at "an all time high" - we must work doubly hard in the fight against HIV/AIDS. I believe the breadth and depth of our joint efforts against HIV/AIDS exemplify the transforming nature of our relationship - but we need more.

The U.S. Government dedicates $33 million annually to fighting HIV/AIDS in India. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spend $18 million on HIV/AIDS-related programs and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invests $15 million on U.S.-India biomedical and public health research on the disease. In addition, the United States is the single largest donor country to the Global AIDS Fund to Fight HIV, TB, and Malaria.

U.S. non-governmental organizations also play an important role. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Bill Clinton Foundation, the Richard Gere Foundation, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation are also active here. These public and private partnerships share knowledge, technology, research and resources that bring our countries closer together.

And corporations are taking leadership roles as well, with companies such as the Ford, General Electric, Dell, Bharat Petroleum and TATA actively fighting HIV/AIDS, trafficking in women, and other issues related to the disease.

U.S. Government programs focus on preventing new infections, bringing lifesaving treatment to people with HIV, and caring for those infected and affected by the disease, including orphans and vulnerable children. Scientists from India and the United States are working together on the development of vaccines and microbicides for HIV/AIDS. Their combined efforts may one day lead to the development of a safe and effective vaccine that we desperately need to fight this disease.

We are also partnering with the Government of India, NGOs and the private sector to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, child sexual abuse and rape. In the past five years, the USG has invested $1.8 million to fund 34 Indian NGOs working on issues related to child sexual abuse and trafficking in women and children. These projects are spread throughout India and address the full range of prevention, arrest, protection, prosecution and rehabilitation issues related to trafficking victims. For example, the U.S. Government funded one of India's most effective anti-trafficking organizations, STOP - helping it rescue 450 victims of forced prostitution that lead to the arrest of 155 traffickers and 68 trafficker convictions in 2004 alone.

Protecting women and girls, like the fight against HIV/AIDS generally, is an effort in which everyone has a part to play. The American people are privileged to join the people of India as we work together to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS.