India has a population of one billion, around half of whom are adults in the sexually active age group. The first AIDS case in India was detected in 1986 and since then HIV infection has been reported in all states and union territories.

The spread of HIV in India has been uneven. Although much of India has a low rate of infection, certain places have been more affected than others. HIV epidemics are more severe in the southern half of the country and the far north-east. The highest HIV prevalence rates are found in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south; and Manipur and Nagaland in the north-east.

In the southern states, HIV is primarily spread through hetersoexual contact. Infections in the north-east are mainly found amongst injecting drug users (IDUs) and sex workers.

Unless otherwise stated, the data on this page has been taken from a 2008 report by the Indian government’s AIDS organisation – NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation).¹

Estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS, 2007

People living with HIV/AIDS	2.31 million
Adult (15 years or above) HIV prevalence	0.34%

Previously it was thought that around 5 million people were living with HIV in India - more than in any other country. Better data, including the results of a national household survey conducted in 2005-2006, led to a major revision of the prevalence estimate in July 2007.² It is now thought that around 2.3 million people in India are living with HIV. Of these, an estimated 39% are female and 3.5% are children.

Back-calculation suggests that HIV prevalence in India may have declined slightly in recent years, though the epidemic is still growing in some regions and population groups.

HIV statistics, 2007

NACO releases HIV figures each year based on data gathered from HIV Sentinel Surveillance sites. In 2007 surveillance was conducted at 1134 sites and 358,797 samples were tested for HIV. The sites carry out tests among the high-risk groups and among antenatal clinic attendees. Data gathered from the antenatal clinics are then used as a surrogate for the general population.

Across India HIV prevalence appears to be low among the general population, but disproportionately high among high-risk groups, such as IDUs, female sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM) and STD clinic attendees.

The average HIV prevalence among women attending antenatal clinics in India is 0.48%. Much higher rates are found among people attending STD clinics (3.6%), female sex workers (5.1%), injecting drug users (7.2%) and men who have sex with men (7.4%). As the table below shows, the rates among different groups vary widely between states.

State/Union Territory	Antenatal clinic HIV prevalence 2007 (%)	STD clinic HIV prevalence 2007 (%)	IDU HIV prevalence 2007 (%)	MSM HIV prevalence 2007 (%)	Female sex worker HIV prevalence 2007 (%)
A & N Islands	0.25	1.33	...	...	...
Andhra Pradesh	1.00	17.20	3.71	17.04	9.74
Arunachal Pradesh	0.00	0.00	0.00	...	...
Assam	0.00	0.50	2.41	2.78	0.44
Bihar	0.25	0.40	0.60	0.00	3.40
Chandigarh	0.25	0.42	8.64	3.60	0.40
Chhattisgarh	0.25	3.33	...	...	1.43
D & N Haveli	0.50	...	...	...	...
Daman & Diu	0.13	...	...	...	...
Delhi	0.25	5.20	10.10	11.73	3.15
Goa	0.18	5.60	...	7.93	...
Gujarat	0.25	2.40	...	8.40	6.53
Haryana	0.13	0.00	0.80	5.39	0.91
Himachal Pradesh	0.00	0.00	...	0.00	0.87
Jammu & Kashmir	0.00	0.20	...	...	...
Jharkhand	0.00	0.40	...	...	1.09
Karnataka	0.50	8.40	2.00	17.60	5.30
Kerala	0.38	1.60	7.85	0.96	0.87
Lakshadweep	0.00	0.00	...	...	...
Madhya Pradesh	0.00	1.72	...	...	0.67
Maharashtra	0.50	11.62	24.40	11.80	17.91
Manipur	0.75	4.08	17.90	16.40	13.07
Meghalya	0.00	2.21	4.17	...	...
Mizoram	0.75	7.13	7.53	...	7.20
Nagaland	0.60	3.42	1.91	...	8.91
Orissa	0.00	1.60	7.33	7.37	0.80
Pondicherry	0.00	3.22	...	2.00	1.30
Punjab	0.00	1.60	13.79	1.22	0.65
Rajasthan	0.13	2.00	...	...	4.16
Sikkim	0.09	0.00	0.47	...	0.00
Tamil Nadu	0.25	8.00	16.80	6.60	4.68
Tripura	0.25	0.40	0.00	...	...
Uttar Pradesh	0.00	0.48	1.29	0.40	0.78
Uttaranchal	0.00	0.00	...	...	...
West Bengal	0.00	0.80	7.76	5.61	5.92

Some areas report an HIV prevalence rate of zero in antenatal clinics. This does not necessarily mean HIV is absent from the area, as some states report the presence of the virus at STD clinics and amongst injecting drug users. In some states and territories the average antenatal HIV prevalence is based on reports from only a small number of clinics.

National Family Health Survey 2005-2006, HIV statistics

The National Family Health Survey conducted between 2005 and 2006 measured HIV prevalence among the general adult population of India, as presented in the table below.³ The survey found the rate among men to be considerably higher than that among women.

Age group	HIV prevalence (%)
	Male	Female	Total
15-19	0.01	0.07	0.04
20-24	0.19	0.17	0.18
25-29	0.43	0.28	0.35
30-34	0.64	0.45	0.54
35-39	0.53	0.23	0.37
40-44	0.41	0.19	0.30
45-49	0.48	0.17	0.33
Total age 15-49	0.36	0.22	0.28

The National Family Health Survey, which tested more than 100,000 people for HIV, also found prevalence to be higher in urban areas (0.35%) than in rural areas (0.25%).

AIDS statistics

NACO has not produced estimates of the number of people living with AIDS and the number of people who have died from AIDS, for some time. Some of the last figures produced were from 2005, which showed that by the end of 2005 the total number of reported AIDS cases in India was 116,905, of which 34,177 were women.⁴ Around a third of these were among people younger than 30 years.

These figures significantly under-represent the actual number of people living with AIDS. Many AIDS deaths go unreported in India, due to unprecedented levels of stigma and discrimination. In many situations a patient will die without HIV having been diagnosed, and with the death attributed to an opportunistic infection, such as tuberculosis.

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