Awareness First: Why HIV Counselling Can Change Outcomes for Young People

Karnataka’s recent decision to organise HIV awareness, counselling and voluntary screening camps across colleges has brought HIV back into public conversation. While the announcement generated debate around HIV testing, it has also highlighted a much larger issue many young people still hesitate to get tested because of stigma, misinformation and the mistaken belief that HIV is no longer a concern.

The real opportunity before us is not to debate testing alone, but to normalise conversations around HIV awareness, counselling and voluntary screening. As healthcare professionals, we know that early diagnosis remains one of the most effective tools in preventing HIV transmission and ensuring better health outcomes.

According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), approximately 25.77 lakh people are living with HIV in India, while Karnataka accounts for an estimated 2,91,348 people living with the infection. The state is also estimated to have 15,362 young people aged 15–24 years living with HIV. While Karnataka has achieved a 65.83% reduction in annual new HIV infections since 2010, sustaining this progress will require continued awareness, early diagnosis and greater uptake of voluntary HIV testing, particularly among young people.

Even with the advances in modern medicine, late diagnosis continues to be a significant challenge because HIV may not cause noticeable symptoms for several years. By the time symptoms appear, the immune system may already have been affected. This is why HIV testing should be viewed as a routine preventive healthcare practice for individuals with potential exposure risks, rather than something considered only after illness develops.

NACO recommends that HIV testing be carried out with informed consent, confidentiality and counselling services. Karnataka’s decision to organise awareness and counselling camps across colleges is therefore a welcome step. Educational institutions provide an ideal environment to engage young adults who are beginning to make independent decisions about their health. By creating safe spaces for awareness and voluntary screening, colleges can help reduce stigma, encourage informed decision-making and improve health-seeking behaviour.

Between 2018–19 and 2023–24, more than 16 million HIV tests were conducted across Karnataka through Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTCs) and other approved testing facilities. While testing access has expanded considerably, many young people continue to seek testing only after symptoms appear or following a perceived high-risk exposure. Encouraging voluntary testing among asymptomatic individuals can lead to earlier diagnosis, timely treatment and reduced transmission within the community.

Advances in Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) now enable people diagnosed early with HIV to live long, healthy and productive lives. Individuals who achieve sustained viral suppression through consistent treatment can also prevent the sexual transmission of HIV, a concept recognised globally as Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U). Early diagnosis, therefore, benefits not only the individual but also strengthens public health efforts to reduce new infections.

Karnataka’s initiative should be viewed as an opportunity to reshape societal thinking about HIV. Success should not be measured only by the number of tests conducted, but by whether more young people feel informed, confident and empowered to voluntarily know their HIV status. Families, educational institutions, healthcare professionals and policymakers all have a shared responsibility to ensure that conversations around HIV move away from fear and stigma towards awareness, prevention and timely action.

If we can make HIV testing as routine and accepted as any other preventive health check-up, we will move one step closer to achieving India’s goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

By Dr. Divya C, Microbiologist, Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory, Bangalore

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