HIV/AIDS in Indian schools: Neuropsychological and psychoeducational implications

Abstract

ABSTRACT India represents the third largest country in the world of individuals living with HIV. Current surveillance data indicate a prevalence rate of.2% in the general population, with 2.1 million individuals living with HIV, including 61,000 children under the age of fifteen. HIV may result in a variety of academic, motor, language, psychosocial, and mental health problems, including neuropsychological deficits in attention, memory, and planning. India is making a concerted attempt to manage the HIV crisis through laws and advocacy efforts that include raising public awareness, education, reduction of parent-to-child-transmission, prevention, and the increased use of antiretroviral therapy. These efforts have resulted in a 57% decline in HIV infections over the past decade and it is now estimated that 56% of those infected are on antiretroviral therapy. Schools and school psychologists in India can play an important role in combating HIV/AIDS, while providing a full range of psychological services that are responsive to India’s unique cultural context, including its collectivism, poverty, diversity of ethnicity, religion, and language, gender disparities, low rate of literacy, and inequalities in educational access. Continued management of HIV and the eradication of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India will require a collaborative, sustained, and multi-dimensional approach to this complex condition.