One fact went unnoticed in the UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic released last month: the figure of estimated AIDS deaths in India was over 4 lakh in 2005.

This is the highest in the world—South Africa had an estimated figure of about 3.2 lakh for the same period.

The report had also highlighted that India led the HIV/ AIDS table with 5.7 million people living with the disease.

The government is not willing to accept the figures easily. ‘‘Before commenting on the figures, we need to study the methodology UNAIDS has adopted. We are going to study the projections in a week or so and then only can react to it,’’ said Sujatha Rao, DG, NACO.

Rao added that the government is trying to evolve a methodology to arrive at independent estimates.

According to UNAIDS, the death figure shows the actual magnitude of the problem. ‘‘This represents the real face of the problem as we need to assess what is the cost of the epidemic to the society,’’ said Denis Broun, Country Representative of UNAIDS. ‘‘The total deaths show the magnitude of the problem. The 4-lakh (figure) is a major catastrophe in a country where only less than one per cent adults are suffering from HIV/AIDS,’’ said Broun.

In 2004, UNAIDS had objected to the Government’s claim of having just 28,000 new infections, saying the death figures were not considered. This year, NACO claimed that there were about 72,000 new cases. UNAIDS, however, has said that the 72,000 increase needs to be reviewed considering the new figures.

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