India 'second highest in AIDS'

The UNAIDS advisor in India, David Miller, says India has the second highest number of people with HIV and AIDS in the world.

Nearly four million people in India are infected.

Only South Africa has more cases, with five million people carrying the disease.

Mr Miller says although the number of people with AIDS accounts for less than one percent of India's population, the numbers are still dangerously high.

Correspondents say the Indian government has launched a nationwide programme to halt the disease, but it faces an uphill battle because of the enormous social and cultural stigma attached to AIDS.

In May, the UNAIDS executive director, Peter Piot forecast that India would overtake South Africa, if steps were not taken to curb the disease.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service