Asia warned of possible AIDS epidemics

Asia warned of possible AIDS epidemics

Agence France-Presse, Manila

Asian countries like China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines could face major epidemics of AIDS in the near future despite the relatively low incidence of the disease in the region at present, the special UN envoy on AIDS in Asia said here Friday.

Nafis Sadik told a forum in the Philippine capital that this made it crucial for Asian nations to commit both the funds and political will to campaigns to minimize the spread of AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes the sexually-transmitted, incurable disease.

She said that while the incidence of AIDS in Asia was lower than in other regions, "the absolute numbers are quite high," due to the continent's large population.

Sadik said that in India there were 3.5 million people infected with AIDS and HIV, making it the country with the second highest number of victims in the world.

She warned that even with a low rate of infection in India, "there will be 30 to 40 million people infected in no time at all," adding the UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) considered India "an epidemic waiting to happen."

Sadik said that in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan, many believed there was less risk of infection because extramarital sex was supposedly less common.

"In theory that might be correct, but in actual practice that is not true," she said, remarking there had been cases of the disease being transmitted by travelers passing through the countryside, migrant workers and transient patrons of prostitutes.

In developing countries, most cases of AIDS infection was from sex between men and women, particularly prostitutes, she said. China and India had recently launched national AIDS prevention programs "but what is lacking in both India and China is high- level political support and commitment," Sadik said.

Indonesia had seen an increase in AIDS in some regions and was preparing a national AIDS prevention program but, she said, had not devoted enough resources to it."

In contrast, countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand with a higher incidence of AIDS, had committed both resources and political will to their AIDS prevention campaigns, Sadik remarked.

UNAIDS also singled out the Philippines because almost all forms of high-risk behavior are present in that country, such as large numbers of sex workers, migrant workers, low use of condoms and high rate of adolescent sexual activity, Sadik said.

Despite this, the amount of funds going to AIDS prevention actually declined in the Philippines, she said without giving details.

Indonesia had also seen a sharp rise in the incidence of AIDS among sex workers and their clients in some regions, Sadik remarked.

All countries with high incidence had "a lack of attention, information, access to condoms, (and) services," she said.

She said that Vietnam was an example how AIDS could explode in an Asian country, citing that in 1996 there were zero cases of HIV infection among sex workers and their clients, but in 2000 it had risen to 20 percent of all prostitutes and clients. "There is no room for complacency," she warned.

Sadik said that a special Global Health Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria had been set up to provide funds for AIDS prevention, but a country must first prove it is willing to commit its own funds and political resources to the effort before it would be entitled to such aid.

Figures released by UNAIDS at the forum showed that there were an estimated 7.1 million people with HIV and AIDS in the Asia- Pacific region at the end of 2001 out of a total 40 million worldwide.

An estimated 1.07 million people in the region got infected in that year alone with 435,000 deaths due to AIDS the same year.