Indian meeting sets up Asian anti-AIDS fight

Indian meeting sets up Asian anti-AIDS fight

Patricia Reaney, Reuters, London

India, China and Indonesia are the new battlegrounds in the fight
against AIDS but have a unique chance to combat the disease by
preparing early, an expert said on Thursday.

They may also, paradoxically, have been helped in the struggle
by the grim example of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) epidemic, according to Dr Peter Piot.

"These three countries are highly vulnerable," said Piot, the
head of UNAIDS which is spearheading the global battle against
HIV/AIDS.

With more than four million people living with HIV/AIDS, India
is already vying with, and may have surpassed, South Africa for
the dubious distinction of having the highest number of sufferers
in the world.

And the immense populations in China and Indonesia mean even a
small jump in the percentage of infections could be disastrous.

But Piot is hoping that India's first National Convention of
the Parliamentary Forum on HIV/AIDS, on July 26-27, will be a
blueprint for other Asian nations to follow so the continent does
not suffer the same fate as sub-Saharan Africa.

"It is time for India to wake up and to act now because
otherwise the price will be much, much higher," Piot said in an
interview.

The main aims of the meeting of 1,500 politicians from all
parties and levels of government in the nation of one billion
people is to allocate budgets to fight HIV/AIDS and enact
legislation to remove the stigma attached to it.

"Up to now...it has not been a cause that has been embraced by
the elected representatives of the people from all parties," Piot
said. "That is important. Every single party is now participating
-- it is extremely rare that all parties (in India) gather
together around one theme with one agenda."

Piot believes the real challenge in battling AIDS in India and
other Asian countries is at the local level.

A particular problem in India is that although generic anti-
AIDS drugs are produced in the country they are not available for
the people who need them.

Heterosexual transmission and intravenous drug injections are
the main modes of transmission of HIV in the country. In some
areas up to 5 percent of pregnant women are infected.

Most healthcare in India is provided by the private sector but
many people rely on the public sector which is under-funded.

Piot believes the human, political and economic costs of the
outbreak of the flu-like SARS epidemic in Asia raised awareness
of the dire consequences of epidemics and the importance of
prevention.