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American Ramblings
Indian MPs Think Clothes Spread AIDS.
And You Thought Dan Quayle was a Dodo!
August 24, 2006
Many Americans still laugh at the very mention of Dan "potatoe" Quayle, the 44th Vice President of USA and 2000 Republican presidential candidate, for not knowing how to spell potato.
But Quayle is an intellectual giant compared to Indian politicians, most of whom are blabbering imbeciles.
According to a recent survey of 250 Indian Members of Parliament conducted by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population Development, two-thirds believe the HIV/AIDS virus can spread by sharing clothes with an infected person.
No surprise then, with such appalling ignorance among the law-makers, India has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDs in the world.
United Nations agency UNAIDS has estimated that 5.7 million children and adults carry the HIV virus in India.
Two-thirds of the 8.3 million HIV infected people in Asia live in India.
The recent "Person-to-Person Advocay" survey of the Indian parliamentarians also finds that 56% of MPs think a person can catch the HIV virus by sharing food and utensils with an infected person.
More than 50% of the MPs were unaware that HIV can be transmitted through blood transfusion.
There are a few silver linings in the survey - 76.4% of MPs know that sex with multiple partners can lead to AIDS and that a condom is a good precaution. Also, 79.6% are aware infected needles can transmit AIDS and 53.6% of MPs know HIV spreads from infected mother to foetus.
Besides exposing the shocking ignorance of Indian MPs, the survey highlights the scary possibilities when these dodos make laws that affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
It's impossible to plumb the depths of ignorance of most Indian politicians because it's bottomless.
Most HIV infections in India are reported to be the result of unprotected heterosexual intercourse. According to UNAIDS, in 2005 less than 10% of people needing antiretroviral treatment received it in India.
HIV or Human Immuno deficiency Virus, is the virus that attacks the human immune system and reduces the body’s capacity to fight infections. AIDS has killed over 25 million since it first came to notice in 1981.
India has the second largest population - after South Africa - of HIV infections in the world.
Manipur, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra are the Indian states with high incidence of HIV infections.
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