India sees major reduction in HIV infections but challenges remain: UN

India saw a major reduction in the number of new HIV infections , AIDS-related deaths and people living with HIV from 2010 to 2017 on the back of sustained and focussed efforts, according to a UN report which warned that the epidemic was growing in Pakistan.

The Joint UN Agency on AIDS (UNAIDS) report titled 'Miles to go closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices' said Asia and the Pacific regions have made strong inroads with its HIV response.

Sustained and focused efforts to reach key populations have led to major reductions in HIV infections in Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam between 2010 and 2017.

The report, however, warned that the global new HIV infections were not declining fast enough. It also noted that the epidemics were expanding in Pakistan and the Philippines.

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In India, new HIV infections dropped from 120,000 in 2010 to 88,000 in 2017, AIDS-related deaths from 160,000 to 69,000 and people living with HIV from 2,300,000 to 2,100,000 in the same time period, the report said.

India has an approved social protection strategy, policy or framework that is being implemented, it said.

Tattoos and their effect on Health

The most common and widespread risk of tattoos is that of infections and skin allergies.

Tattoos are growing in popularity with each passing day especially amongst the youngsters. Getting a tattoo can be quite an experience and thus more and more people are getting inked each day. Tattoos can be temporary or permanent. The process mostly involves a needle piercing the outermost layer of the skin and creating the design using ink drops. Technology which is used to create tattoos is getting better with the growth in popularity of body art. But still risks in getting a tattoo and erasing the same if required remain. Laser tattoo removal is done by directing high energy pulses to remove the ink. Although the process does not affect or damage surrounding tissues but still issues such as scarring, discoloration of skin, burning sensation, incomplete removal and infections may occur.

Common Health Issues Associated with Tattoos

The most common and widespread risk of tattoos is that of infections and skin allergies. Many a time the ink used for the body art will not suit the skin and cause irritation and other problems. These issues may happen immediately or even after weeks, sometimes things such as exposure to the sun or other factors may trigger infections and allergies. It has been seen that coloured tattoos especially that of red and yellow colours have a higher rate of infections and allergies as many a times metallic stains such as cobalt and cadmium are added to the ink for colouration purpose. Fresh tattoos will have redness and swelling but if the tattoo stays red even after a couple of weeks or gets greenish and oozes puss you have most likely caught an infection. Foul smell, prolonged swelling and tattoo being hot to touch even after days can be other symptoms of infections and allergies. Tattoo related allergies are classified as Type - 4 allergies which are also known as 'delayed allergies'. Thus it may even take weeks after the tattoo for the allergy to show up.

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