To understand the socio-psychological aspects of HIV transmission and gender and caste based AIDS care in India, 100 HIV positive patients and their spouses or sexual partners were included in this study.The individuals were interviewed for their pre-or extramarital sexual exposure with suspected HIV positive persons.They were also interviewed about the barriers,if any,they used,and change in their sexual behaviour with their spouses after they were tested HIV positive.All except three were males who were first detected HIV positive,while 3 women were found HIV positive first and subsequendy dieir male partners were included in the study.Eighty of 97(82.4%) males admittedly acquired HIV through heterosexual route.Of the 80 males,60(75%) acquired HIV infection from organised CSWs and 20 from casual sex partners.Many of these acquired the infection just before their marriages.More than half of these males were infected during only one or two sexual encounters. Sixty out of 75(80%) married males continued to have sex even after knowing their HIV positive status.One male and six female spouses did not get infected even after multiple insertive unprotected sex.The average life span after the diagnosis of HIV infection in Indian males without specific treatment was 4.5±3. 5 yr while in women it was 3.5±2.0 yr,indicating fast progression of AIDS in females,most probably due to gender bias in access to treatment,nutrition,care and also due to hormonal differences.Pulmonary tuberculosis was most common and first clinical presentation of HIV associated opportunistic infection.The study also showed that due to ignorance majority of husbands do not share their HIV positive status with their wives and continue to have unsafe sex. To understand the socio-psychological aspects of HIV transmission and gender and caste based AIDS care in India, 100 HIV positive patients and their spouses or sexual partners were included in this study. Individuals who were interviewed for their pre-or extramarital sexual exposure with suspected HIV positive persons. They also also interviewed about the barriers, if any, they used, and change in their sexual behavior with their spouses after they were tested HIV positive. All except three were males who were first detected HIV positive, while 3 women were found HIV positive first and subsequendy dieir male partners were included in the study. Light of of 97 (82.4%) males admittedly acquired HIV through heterosexual route. Of the 80 males, 60 (75%) acquired HIV infection from organised CSWs and 20 from casual sex partners .Many of these acquired the infection just before their marriages.More than half of these males were infected during only one or two sexual encounters. Sixty out of 75 (80%) marrie d males continued to have sex even after knowing their HIV positive status. One male and six female spouses did not get infected even after multiple insertive unprotected sex. The average life span after the diagnosis of HIV infection in Indian males without specific treatment was 4.5 ± 3. 5 yr while in women it was 3.5 ± 2.0 yr, indicating fast progression of AIDS in females, most probably due to gender bias in access to treatment, nutrition, care and also due to hormonal differences. Pulmonary tuberculosis was the most common and first clinical presentation of HIV associated opportunistic infection. The study also showed that due to ignorance majority of husbands do not share their HIV positive status with their wives and continue to have unsafe sex.