Understanding the Gender Disparity in HIV Testing in India

Mayank Kumar Singh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The existence and rapid spread of HIV and AIDS poses a serious challenge to every nation across the globe. HIV and AIDS have the potential to undermine the massive improvements that have been made in global health over the years. However, the programme of controlling HIV epidemic has underwent tremendous change from Using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2005-06), we examine the state level differences in gender disparities in HIV testing across major India states. We also examine the effect of salient socio-economic, demographic and behavioral correlates of gender disparities in HIV testing in India. Result indicates large inter-state differentials in HIV testing in India. The use of HIV testing remained notably lower among females than their male counterparts. We also found systematic socioeconomic pattern in HIV testing, as men and women from richest wealth quintile, higher education from urban area were most benefitted than their counterparts.