The number of those infected with HIV/AIDS in India recently crossed 5.7 million mark - making it home to more victims of the disease than any other country in the world, say AP sources.

Fighting against this odd is an army of people backed by hundreds of millions of dollars from the world's deepest philanthropies pockets - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Known as "Ahavan" - a Sanskrit word meaning "call to action", The foundation's AIDS prevention effort in India, - has a $200 million five-year grant to operate an HIV prevention program on a scale never done before. But in a country as vast as India, it could do with more

The top authority in the HIV control program in India told reporters that it will be stepping up its fight against AIDS. There are 5.7 million people affected with the disease in India.

Sujatha Rao said that health officials are working to promote safe sex, popularize condoms, and widen its treatment facilities to six high-incidence states around the country

A recent report released by the United Nations says that Kenyan women who were almost always sexually abused were six times more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS than Kenyan men.

More surprising is that many Kenyan women and girls are simply not in a position to abstain from sex, and do not prefer using a condom while having sex

A study by researchers at University of Washington has shown that using condoms during sex can prevent the spread of the human papilloma virus, which can lead to cervical cancer in women. The study comes on the heels of Food and Drug Administration's approval of a cervical cancer vaccine earlier this month.

According to a report on Seattle pi website, the study which involved 82 students, aged 18 to 22, revealed that women whose partners used a condom every time they had sex were 70 percent less likely to contract HPV than those whose partners used a condom less than 5 percent of the time

Researchers at University of Washington conducted a landmark study and found that women whose partners use condoms are 70 percent less likely to be infected with the human papillomavirus or HPV than women whose partners did not use condoms. The virus known to be sexually transmitted is associated with the cause of cervical cancer.

Lead researcher of the study which is published in the June 22 New England Journal of Medicine Rachel Winer said, "The message is that women can significantly reduce their risk of HPV infection by using condoms consistently with their male partners but it's not 100 percent effective. Other preventive measures, including regular screenings, are still very important