protected under local laws, and may be denied their property rights and rights to
inheritance. Those orphans who cannot be taken in by relatives or by their
communities will become street children. These children have to fight to survive, they
are at a greater risk to contract HIV; indeed, orphanhood is a factor in continuing the
spread of HIV/AIDS. Young girls who are orphaned often turn to prostitution to
survive, putting their lives in more danger. That´s the reason of the increasing number
of prostitutes in India Such cases are extremely high in cities like Mumbai. In India,
there are very less care and support systems for orphans, particularly children
orphaned by AIDS. Even the Indian society also hate such a children. In Andhra
Pradesh, for example, a state with 76 million people and highest percentage of people
living with AIDS has only one orphanage with capacity for 20 children. As a result, in
India there are more number of children living in streets, begging etc.
Children whose family members are living with HIV, cannot attend
school. They may also have to care for a sick parent or relative, and may have to give
up school to become the principle wage-earner for the family. When adults fall sick,
food still needs to be provided – and the burden of earning money usually falls on the
oldest child. Or many poor households affected by AIDS may not be able to afford to
send their children to school. Moreover, children may be the only able-bodied members of a household if the adults are sick -- or dead -- and are likely to
concentrate more on survival and raising their siblings than on education. According
to estimates, more than 27 per cent households are now headed by children aged 14 or
less. That is the one of the biggest reason of illiteracy in India.
Effective HIV/AIDS drugs are very expensive, so the large part of the
money earned is spend on the family member living with AIDS , so their children
suffer from malnutrition, hunger etc. Not only do overall household incomes fall, but
also what money remains tends to be diverted to meet the needs of the sick. Family
expenditure on healthcare rises, eventually consuming savings and other resources in
an attempt to keep death at bay, and to pay for funerals when the battle is lost. This is
the one of the reason that people of those families in India are dying with hunger,
malnutrition etc.
In India, young adults, aged15-29, account for 32% of AIDS cases
reported. Among those aged 15-24, the number of young women living with
HIV/AIDS has been estimated to be almost twice that of young men. As the AIDS
weakens a person´s ability to earn a living, forcing many individuals to adopt
prostitution as a mean of survival. That´s the reason of the increasing number of
prostitutes in India and there is also a danger of spreading diseases to others. One
alternative to prostitution is the theft of property: looting, burglary and mugging.
These activities undermine society as a whole as well as individual´s quality of life.
That is the reason of increasing crimes in India especially in Andhra Pradesh. The
people most directly affected by AIDS tends to be sexually active young adults. In
India, these people are the only support of their old parents. But as their young
children die, they have to struggle hard in their old-age to earn their livelihood as they
don´t get any pensions or help from government. And in some cases they have to take care of their grandchildren because both their parents have died due to mutual
contamination.
HIV is frequently transmitted from mother to baby via breast feeding
because a baby´s underdeveloped stomach allows the virus to enter the bloodstream
more easily. Therefore AIDS is major contributor to increasing infant mortality rate
of India to 32.39
AIDS distorts health-spending priorities. Most of the hospital beds in
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are occupied by HIV-positive patients. For
governments, the epidemic poses a number of dilemmas: to spend limited resources
on trying to prevent further infections, helping those already infected, or combating
other serious health problems, such as tuberculosis, malaria and cholera.On a grander
scale, countries' health systems themselves become overburdened. Already
understaffed and underfunded, India's health infrastructure is struggling to cope with
the enormous demands placed on it. Public health facilities in particular come under
strain, as many private clinics and doctors choose not to offer treatment for
HIV/AIDS. The lack of supplies can put healthcare workers at risk of becoming
infected themselves
AIDS sufferers are so physical weakened that they are unable to
undertake physical work and so they can´t work in farms which seriously affects the
food productivity of India and results in food crises in many parts of the country.
The economic consequences HIV/AIDS in India:
According to some estimates, annual per capita economic growth in India is 0.7
percent less because of the cumulative impact of AIDS. In many different ways, the
devastation of AIDS among individuals and families ultimately affects a country's
overall economic performance. The loss of experienced workers and skilled
professionals saps production in key sectors. More insidiously, AIDS can erode the
people's morale, weakening their confidence in the future, further harming
productivity and undermining their willingness to save and invest. The one of the
biggest reason of Indian government is much concerned to control AIDS is the effect
of it on economy. As UNAIDS has estimated that when HIV prevalence rates rise to
more than 20 per cent, gross domestic product (GDP) in country can be lowered by as
much as 2 per cent a year.
The agricultural sector is one of the hardest hit in India, where it is
often the largest contributor to the economy. As people sicken, the areas they cultivate
may shrink, and yields decline as physical weakness reduces farmers' effectiveness.
Food security is jeopardized, as labour, time and money is diverted to deal with the
illness. And Indian government cannot afford to replace a reduced workforce with
modern agriculture machinery. That is the reason for decline in food productivity of
India and it effects economy greatly.
In India, many households lost one or more productive members
through adult mortality so that family income declined.In India, young adults, aged
15-29, account for 32% of AIDS cases reported. These are the very people that have
the best potential to create wealth and manufacture goods. So thias affects the
economy of India greatly.
The people most directly affected by AIDS tends to be sexually active young adults. In India, these people are the only support of their old parents. But as
their young children die, they have to struggle hard in their old-age to earn their
livelihood as they don´t get any pensions or help from government. And in some
cases they have to take care of their grandchildren because both their parents have
died due to mutual contamination. Even some children become orphan. So this
increases poverty in India.
Among households, the direct costs of HIV/AIDS can be measured in
the lost income of those who die or who lose their jobs because of their illness.
Effective HIV/AIDS drugs are very expensive, so the large part of the money earned is
spend on the family member living with AIDS. Many households in India which
otherwise might have remained above the poverty line are pushed below it. Poor
farmers in India often sell their livestock and farm to buy expensive medicines , and
their children often lack the skills to farm or look after livestock in their care and they
become unemployed due to which poverty increases.
Increase in AIDS sufferers put more burden on government as they have to maintain
more hospitals and staff etc. As the AIDS weakens a person´s ability to earn a living,
so they start looting, burglary and mugging. That increases crime in India and also
place additional pressure on police forces whose strengths is reduced by AIDS-partly
as a direct result of physical contact with infected criminals. In this way Indian
government has to spend large amount of money on such a things which results
decrease in national income.
HIV is frequently transmitted from mother to baby via breast feeding
because a baby´s underdeveloped stomach allows the virus to enter the bloodstream
more easily. Therefore AIDS is major contributor to increasing infant mortality rate
of India to 32.39. And indirectly it has inverse impact on India`s economy. As the country losses children who are the real future of India and results in decrease of
labour to work and earn money
