2006, world aids day

TYPE:
INTERNATIONAL DAY
DATE OF ISSUE:
1 december 2006
ISSUED BY:
INdia post
NUMBER OF STAMPS PRINTED:
0.4 MILLION
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This stamp was issued on the occasion of the 19th World AIDS Day, marking 25 years since the first reported case, and 10 years since the founding of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The stamp depicts a red ribbon, an internationally recognized symbol for AIDS awareness, worn in support of people living with HIV and in remembrance of those who have died from it.

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Photo: UNAIDS

HIV/AIDS was detected for the first time in India in 1986. It is largely concentrated among a few vulnerable population groups, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs and prisoners and other incarcerated people.

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Photo: UNDP

In 1992, the Government of India launched the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) – a comprehensive programme for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in India. Since then India has seen a significant reduction in the number of new cases. Over the last decade itself, there has been a 66 percent reduction in AIDS-related deaths in India.

UNAIDS, that unites the work of 11 UN organizations in India — UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank has been serving in India since 1999, in close partnership with India’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) to realise the goal where every person living with HIV has access to care, dignity and freedom from discrimination.

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Photo: UNICEF/ Hiraj Singh

There has been progress in the number of AIDS-related deaths since 2010, with a 56% decrease, from 160 00 deaths to 69 000 deaths. The number of new HIV infections has decreased, from 120 000 to 88 000 in the same period.