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INTRODUCTION 1.1. HIV/AIDS - A Historical Perspective Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is known to be a leading cause of adult deaths in the world (Narain, 2004). The first cases of AIDS were noticed in homosexual men in the United States in 1981. The causal agent, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was identified in 1983 (Fahey & Flemmig, 1996). HIV appears to have started spreading rapidly in the late 1970s or early 1980s in America, Australia and Western Europe. In 1982, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA formally defined the epidemic as 'Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome' (AIDS) (Alcorn, 1999). As is well known, HIV transmission occurs mainly through contact with bodily fluids. Unprotected sex and injecting drug use where needles are shared are the main routes of transmission (Alcorn, l 999; Fahey & Flemmig, 1996). AIDS is the end-stage outcome of the HIV infection (Fahey & Flemmig, 1996). A decrease in the CD4+T helper cells is, in fact, a bona fide marker of overall disease progression (Smith, 1998). HIV infection and AIDS disease have been a global concern for almost three decades now. Although the epidemic was first identified in United States most of the new infections now occur in developing countries (Narain, 2004). These countries are least equipped to respond to the challenge effectively (Alemnji, Nkengasong, & Parekh, 2011; Grant & De Cock, 1998). Even after 30 years of its arrival AIDS still continues to be a life-threatening disease and those infected by HIV continue to be stigmatised and ostracised. It still continues to be the concern of millions of people. The UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS states that in 2002 a total of 3.1 million people worldwide died of AIDS, which is the highest number of deaths registered in any year since the epidemic started (UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS], (2002). 1.2.HIV/AIDS Epidemic in India HIV epidemic has really become a huge challenge in the country since the first case was detected in Tamil Nadu in 1986 (Sharma, 2009). Based on the available data, the number of HIV infected persons went up from 3.5 million in 1998 to over 5.2 million,

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