India has made recent developments with respect to fighting against AIDS and has seen around
50% decline in new cases of AIDS. It is important to educate the rural areas about AIDS to
eradicate the physical and social stigma attached with the infection. It is also important to
connect them to quality healthcare facilities.

The fact that rural areas need more attention in these respects came from the report which said
around 1,20,000 new cases of AIDS were diagnosed in 2011. Thus, the National Aids Control
Organisation’s (NACO’s) aim was to reach the areas which were recognised as the ‘hot spots’ of
the epidemic.

A team of one male and female each was deployed for a cluster of villages having a population
of over 5,ooo which included high-risk groups like sex workers and sex practitioners. This
methodology helped bringing a change from the grass-root level.

The team’s aim was to educate the villagers n evils of early marriages, lack of awareness of HIV/
AIDS, poor healthcare facilities, gender discrimination etc. Thus, these teams become crucial for
Government’s initiative to prevent spread of infection.

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