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A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE AWARENESS OF HIV/AIDS AMONGEDUCATED AND UNEDUCATED YOUTH OF PUDUCHERRYDr. C. SATHEESH KUMAR 
Lecturer, Department of Social Work,Pondicherry University, Puducherry.Mobile No: 9444470765. Email: satheeshsw@gmail.com
&V.VIJAYALAKSHMI,
Research Scholar, Department of Sociology,Pondicherry University, Puducherry.Email: victoryviji@gmail.com
 ABSTRACT 
 India is one of the largest and most populated countries in the world, with over one billion inhabitants. Of this number, it's estimated that around 2.4 million Indians arecurrently living with HIV 
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. In a country where poverty, illiteracy and poor health are rife,the spread of HIV presents a daunting challenge. HIV emerged later in India than it did in many other countries. Infection rates soared throughout the 1990s, and today the epidemic affects all sectors of Indian society.The people living with HIV in India are incredibly diverse, and many would not beconsidered to be members of ‘high-risk groups’. Nonetheless, it is possible to identifycertain populations that face a proportionately greater risk than others. These risk  groups include sex workers, injecting drug users, truck drivers, migrant workers and menwho have sex with men. In contrast to the common perception that HIV only affects injecting drug usersand gay men, the overwhelming majority of infections in India occur throughheterosexual sex. In large numbers of cases, women in monogamous relationships arebecoming infected because their husbands have had multiple sexual partners. A 2008 study suggests an increase in HIV prevalence among women could also be related tointimate partner violence. Women currently account for 39% of HIV infections in India,and it is thought that this figure is rising 
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 Another significant trend is that most of the people becoming infected are in the sexually active and economically productive 15 to 44 age group. This means that most  people living with HIV are in the prime of their working lives. Many are supporting  families. It is estimated that India has four million HIV/AIDS affected people. It isbelieved that if the preventive steps are not taken, India will have the largest number of  HIV/AIDS affected people. The adolescents and youth are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.Thus the present study attempts to bring out the level of awareness and knowledge of  HIV/AIDS among the educated and uneducated youth of Puducherry region through acomparative analysis.
INTRODUCTION
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 UNAIDS 2008 Report of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic
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UNDP (2006), The Socio Economic Impact of HIV and HIV/AIDS in India
 
India had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infections, from a fewthousand in the early 1990s to around 5.1 million children and adults living withHIV/AIDS in 2003. With a population of over one billion, the HIV epidemics in Indiawill have a major impact on the overall spread of HIV in Asia and the Pacific and indeedworldwide.The spread of HIV within the country is as diverse as the societal patterns between itsdifferent regions, states and metropolitan areas. In fact, India's epidemic is made up of anumber of epidemics, and in some places they occur within the same state. The epidemicsvary, from states with mainly heterosexual transmission of HIV, to some states whereinjecting drug use is the main route of HIV transmission. Both tracking the epidemic andimplementing effective programs poses a serious challenge to the authorities andcommunities in India.It would be easy to underestimate the challenge of HIV/AIDS in India. India has a large population and population density, low literacy levels and consequently low levels of awareness, and HIV/AIDS is one of the most challenging public health problems ever faced by the country.
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE RESPONSE TO HIV/HIV/AIDS IN INDIA
The first case of HIV infection in India was diagnosed among commercial sex workers inChennai, Tamil Nadu, in 1986. Soon after, a number of screening centres wereestablished throughout the country. Initially the focus was on screening foreigners,especially foreign students. Gradually, the focus moved on to screening blood banks. Byearly 1987, efforts were made up to set up a national network of HIV screening centres inmajor urban areas.A National HIV/AIDS Control Programme was launched in 1987 with the programactivities covering surveillance, screening blood and blood products, and healtheducation. In 1992 the National HIV/AIDS Control Organization (NACO) was
 
established. NACO carries out India's National HIV/AIDS Programme, which includesthe formulation of policy, prevention and control programmes.The Government launched a Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS prevention under the NationalHIV/AIDS Control Project, the same year NACO was established. The Projectestablished the administrative and technical basis for programme management and alsoset up State HIV/AIDS bodies in 25 states and 7 union territories. The Project was able tomake a number of important improvements in HIV prevention such as improving bloodsafety.
NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS IN INDIACurrent estimates & future projections
Globally India is second only to South Africa in terms of the overall number of peopleliving with HIV.
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 NACO estimated that there the number of Indians living with HIV increased by500,000 in 2003 to 5.1 million. Around 38 percent of these people were women.
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By the end of May 2005, the total number of HIV/AIDS cases reported in Indiawas 109,349 of whom 31,982 were women. These data also indicated that 37% of reported HIV/AIDS cases were diagnosed among people under 30. Many moreHIV/AIDS cases go unreported.
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The UN Population Division projects that India's adult HIV prevalence will peak at 1.9% in 2019. The UN estimates there were 2.7 million HIV/AIDS deaths inIndia between 1980 and 2000. During 2000-15, the UN has projected 12.3 millionHIV/AIDS deaths and 49.5 million deaths during 2015-50.
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A 2002 report by the CIA's National Intelligence Council predicted 20 million to25 million HIV/AIDS cases in India by 2010, more than any other country in theworld.
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