Abused Indian women at greater risk of HIV: study

Married women in India who are physically and sexually abused by their husbands are four times more likely to become infected with the AIDS virus than married women who were not abused, a Harvard study said on Tuesday.India has the world's third-largest number of people infected with HIV at 2.47 million cases, according to the latest figures, but health workers say the number is rising rapidly and spreading to new population groups.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health said they confirmed earlier studies suggesting that men who engage in extramarital sex, including unprotected sex with prostitutes, are the main source of HIV for Indian women.

More than 95 percent of HIV-positive married Indian women report being monogamous, the Harvard researchers said, adding that the extramarital sex by their husbands explains why so many victims of abuse are becoming infected.

"A women who is abused by her husband is truly placed in a situation of 'double jeopardy' regarding HIV infection," said Jay Silverman, lead author of the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"His sexual behavior outside of the marriage makes it more likely he is infected with the virus, and his abusive behavior inside the marriage leaves her with little control over sex or sexual protection," said Silverman, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The study examined data from India's National Family Health Survey between 2005 and 2006, with a sample that included 28,139 married women.

More than a third reported experiencing physical violence with or without sexual violence from their husbands. Of these, 28 percent experienced physical violence alone, while 7.7 percent suffered both physical and sexual abuse.

The risk for HIV infection among those who experienced both physical and sexual violence from their husbands was increased by a magnitude 3.9 over the infection risk for women who were not abused, the researchers said.

Uganda turns to mass circumcision in AIDS fight

Ugandan authorities have launched a mass circumcision drive with the hope it will reduce HIV/AIDS rates in the east African country.Some studies indicate circumcision could be 70 percent effective in protecting men against infection by the disease during heterosexual intercourse, when used in conjunction with condoms and other safe-sex practices.

Government officials in Kampala have decided to take advantage of a month-long traditional "circumcision season" practiced by some tribes to drive the message home.

"Socially, it is uniting, and now it has also been proven medically, that is gratifying and it is part and parcel of now the strategy for fighting AIDS," Kibale Wambi, chairman of Sironko district in eastern Uganda, told Reuters.

The government plans to circumcise more than 3,000 local youths between the ages of 12 and 18. HIV activists say there needs to be more money and efforts like this on a global scale.

But some critics of circumcision in Uganda say it is brutal and dangerous. In traditional settings like Sironko, circumcisers have used the same knife for each young man.

This time, the government has introduced a strict one knife per operation ruling to ensure no infections are passed on.

"If a knife is to be re-used on another person, it first has to be sterilized," Wambi said, wearing a traditional hat covered with cowrie shells.

"We have also discouraged the traditional practice of forcing the circumcised males into sexual intercourse to prove their manhood after the wound heals, to avoid the spread of sexually transmitted diseases."

Some experts fear that some of the newly circumcised men may believe they are immune following the procedure -- translating into even more risky sexual behavior.

"All I know is that when I am circumcised, it will not be as easy for me to get infected with HIV/AIDS," said one young man, Kizeja Michael, as he lined up for the operation.

"People who are circumcised are not able to get AIDS," said his friend, Peter Kibatsi.

Uganda has been widely praised for an education campaign about condoms that is credited with cutting HIV prevalence rates from 30 percent two decades ago to about 6 percent today.