Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Monday, 24 November, 2003
"I will prove all experts wrong. We are taking on the disease from all fronts. We are tackling it very bravely," Minister Sushma Swaraj told the BBC.
India's Health Ministry estimates that 4.58 million people - or roughly 0.8% of the adult population - are HIV-positive.
Critics say that India's Aids control programme has been marred by sluggish awareness programmes, rickety treatment facilities and unaccountable non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
High risk groups
Ms Swaraj said that a 'holistic' approach - as opposed to the previous 'prevention centric' approach - to tackle Aids in India was working.
She said this will check the spread of the disease and remove the stigma about it.
"(It is about) educating and informing people about how Aids is transmitted," said Ms Swaraj.
She said the NGOs were now being given 'area and field specific' tasks, targeting four high risk groups and areas: commercial sex workers, adolescent youth, migrant workers and truckers, and parent to child transmission.
"Now we are asking the NGOs which area they want to work in. If they chose sex workers, we identify the locality and tell them to ensure the supply of condoms there," said Ms Swaraj
"We are identifying centres, giving them responsibilities and monitoring their work. This never [happened] before," she said.
Ms Swaraj agreed that women in Indian villages were susceptible to infection from their husbands returning home from working in other states.
"We are now making [women's] groups. They talk about the disease and about telling [your husband] to wear condoms. Otherwise, you just refuse [sex]. This is the awareness we want among rural women."
Ms Swaraj said Indians can no longer be "escapist" about safe sex practices and Aids.
"We cannot brush the disease under the carpet. The attitude is changing very fast. Now people are talking about it."
Asked why only one state in India is presently beginning to introduce sex education in schools, Ms Swaraj said sex education "is becoming part of the curriculum in every state".
Ms Swaraj denied that she was the only person talking about the need for sexual abstinence and faith to control Aids.
"This is the message the World Health Organisation has adopted," she said.
"[It is] ABC. A is abstinence. B is to be faithful and C is condoms. Using condoms only is not the only answer to the disease."
'No prudish approach'
Asked whether the ruling BJP government with its emphasis on Hindu cultural morality was in denial about Aids, Ms Swaraj said: "This is absolutely baseless."
She claimed that during her tenure condom usage had gone up and the number of distribution outlets had doubled.
"All this has not happened with a prudish approach," she said.
Ms Swaraj defended the Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who has urged people to lead responsible personal lives.
"Ours is a moral society. While tackling Aids you [cannot] say you lead licentious lives because [you can use] condoms. I don't think that should be the message."
Asked what is the single most important thing the world should do to fight Aids, Ms Swaraj said people should "change their behaviour".
"We must be faithful to our partner," she said.
Earlier this year, Ms Swaraj publicly hugged two HIV-positive children, in an attempt to dispel myths and remove some of the stigma attached to the condition.
Asked whether she would make a personal pledge on combating Aids, Ms Swaraj said: "I will love Aids infected children, not reject them."
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