'Passivity on AIDS could stifle further progress'

By T. Sima Gunawan

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): The third International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific ended yesterday with a call for all countries in the region to see AIDS as a major problem that could undermine social and economic progress.

"Countries enjoying rapid economic growth could face serious obstacles to further progress if AIDS is not addressed as a national development issue now," Anand Panyarachun, former Thai prime minister, who is active in the anti-AIDS campaign, said in a plenary session prior to the conference's closing ceremony.

More than 2,500 people from 52 countries attended the five-day conference, which was closed by Thai Foreign Minister R. Kasem S. Kasemsri.

According to Panyarachun, up to 20 percent of Thailand's current Gross Domestic Product could be wiped out if the nation failed to tackle the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) problem.

More than 800,000 people of Thailand's 60 million population have been infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

The U.S. Bureau of Census has estimated that if Thailand is unable to slow the rate of AIDS infections, the average life expectancy at birth in the year 2010 will be only 44 years.

In the first years after the first AIDS cases were discovered in Thailand, the issue was not tackled properly. In 1991, there was even an immigration regulation prohibiting HIV-positive people from entering the country.

It took Thailand over three years of education campaigns and prevention efforts to begin changing people's behavior, and many people were infected during this time, Panyarachun said.

"There are some important lessons in Thailand's experience. We must focus on action, time is running out," he said.

Observing that AIDS-policy making in the Asia and the Pacific region is still medically-oriented, Panyarachun called on national leaders to take AIDS more seriously by considering its tremendous social and economic impacts.

Panyarachun warned that AIDS will affect certain critical economic sectors, such as tourism, labor, exports and foreign direct investments. Tourists are reluctant to visit countries where AIDS is not under control, and as more people become sick from illnesses related to AIDS, labor costs will be forced to increase.

As a result, foreign companies will be deterred from investing and will seek other places to locate their business in.

He proposed that heads of government from around the region meet to discuss the problems, to gain their commitment and endorsement of national AIDS action plans by the middle of next year.

The next AIDS conference should involve more parliamentarians and business leaders, he said.

Indonesia is scheduled to host the conference in 1997.

Chairman of the just-ended conference's organizing committee, Natth Bhamaraprawati, said there has been some improvement in potential commitment to the fight against AIDS/HIV in the region, but the improvement has not been strong enough to match the speed of the epidemic.

"The fact that so few of the region's politicians joined us, probably with the exception of Thailand, highlights this problem," he said.

He called on leaders in the areas to respond to the urgency of the situation and cooperate with each other to fight the disease.

Yesterday's closing ceremony was filled with emotion as two young people, representing the so-called PWAs (People With AIDS/HIV) came to the stage and talked about the need to involve PWAs in the policies fighting AIDS.

The hall shook as more than 1,000 people in the room gave the speech a long applause. It then stilled as people stood for a one-minute silence, in remembrance of people who have died of AIDS.

A number of HIV-infected men and women, who have been determined to take an active part in anti-AIDS campaign, later came to the stage to receive bouquets.

While many participants looked satisfied with the conference, activists from gay, lesbian, transgender and sex-worker organizations, protested the organizing committee's ignorance of their roles in the efforts to fight AIDS.

Soon after the ceremony was closed, three people representing gays, lesbians and sex-workers stepped onto the podium to read their statements, demanding the committee involve them more in future activities.