Rome (AsiaNews) The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today released its report on the state of the global epidemic in the world. The document was launched a few days ahead of the XV International AIDS Conference scheduled for July 11 in a Bangkok, Thailand.
Among the wealth of information, the most relevant for Asia is how fast the virus is spread in the continent. In some areas, it is reaching the level of some African countries.
Recently, Praful Patel, World Bank (WB) Vice President, South Asia Region, raised the alarm saying that "the epidemic is moving from Africa to Asia." So far, Asian governments have neither realised the seriousness of the situation nor taken the appropriate measures to stop AIDS from further spreading.
According to the 2004 UNAIDS Report, of the 37.8 million people living with HIV/AIDS, 7.4 million are in Asia. In 2003, about 500,000 Asians died because of the virus out of a total worldwide death toll of 2.9 million. More than twice as many (1.1 million out of 4.8 million worldwide) are said to have been infected. In Asia, the main causes of HIV/AIDS transmission are infected needles used by drug addicts, gay and casual sex, and prostitution. The infection rate is rising among women who now represent 23% of AIDS patients.
Here is an overview of the situation in Asia, based on information from the 2004 UNAIDS Report and other U.N. Agencies.
East and South-East Asia
At 30%, the annual rate of infection is rising rapidly in China. According to UNAIDS, it is the fastest one in the world. The situation is critical in Myanmar, Thailand, and especially in Cambodia where the infection rate is 3%, the highest in Asia.
China
According to official estimates, there are 840,000 HIV-positive patients in China, but international experts think the figure is much higher. UNAIDS has warned that if no effective measures are taken soon, the number of HIV-infected people could reach 10 million by 2010 leaving about 260,000 AIDS orphans.
The infection rate is very low about 0.1% but the disease has spread to all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and in some places the situation is very worrying. In Xinjiang province, for example, the rate ranges from 35% and 80%; in Guangdong province, it is 20%; in the eastern provinces of Anhui, Henan and Shangdong where many farmers were infected selling their blood the infection rate is in the 10 to 20% range reaching 60% in some communities.
AsiaNews has repeatedly warned about the AIDS situation in China. For years the government hushed up the spread of the disease and bears a heavy responsibility for the deficiency, backwardness and poor hygienic conditions found in the health care system. In Henan province, a million people were infected after selling their blood for little money in a health centre where staff did not use the necessary health precautions. In some of the local villages, the infection rate is so high that there is no family without an AIDS patient. In addition, most local people remain largely uninformed, and the health care system and staff remain deficient. According to China's health ministry, "only 10% of HIV-positive patients are aware of their infection. Nine patients in ten do not know that they are infected and can thus transmit the virus to other people." Based on government data, in the entire country there are less than 150 doctors who are trained to diagnose and treat AIDS patients. In light of the serious collateral effects that the treatment entails and the constant supervision that patients require, it is no wonder that the low number of AIDS professionals ends up discouraging many patients. For this reason, one patient in four drops out of the treatment programme.
Vietnam
It is one of the latest countries affected by AIDS. Its infection rate stands at about 1%, but in some provinces it reaches 20% among drug addicts. Needle sharing is responsible for two thirds of all infections.
Thailand
Thai authorities have adopted a plan to fight the virus, but preventive measures have so far proven inadequate. The disease is spreading among married couples (casual sex outside of the marriage by one partner leads to infection which is passed onto the other) and the more marginalised groups of the population (drug addicts and migrants).
Indonesia
The disease has spread to 6 of the country's 31 provinces largely as a result of needle sharing. Between 1999 and 2003, the proportion of HIV-positive among drug addicts went from 16% to 48%. Between 2002 and 2003, it went from 66% to 93%. In the beginning of 2003, 25% of all inmates in Jakarta's Cipinang Prison were HIV-positive. Even though there are 200,000 prostitutes in the country, infection among them is rising but remains rare.
South Asia
According to WB Vice President Praful Patel, AIDS could reach African proportions in the region. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) points out that one important factor in the spread of the disease is the vulnerability of women who are too often excluded from adequate health care and unaware of AIDS and how it is contracted.
India
With 4.6 million cases, India comes second only to South Africa for the number of people infected. In southern states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, it is primarily a sexually transmitted disease. In north-eastern states like Manipur and Nagaland, which are close to the Golden Triangle (Myanmar-Thailand-Laos), sharing of infected needles is the main cause of transmission. Awareness of the disease remains very limited in the population. A 2001 survey indicated that only 75% of the respondents had heard about AIDS, less than 33% had heard about sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), and only 21% were aware of the link between AIDS and STDs.
Pakistan
The rate of infection is 0.1%, and largely due to infected needles. There are about 3 million heroin addicts in the country and the first outbreak occurred in 2003. Few people know about AIDS and that it is transmitted through infected needles.
Bangladesh
The infection rate is only 0.1%, but risk behaviour for HIV-AIDS is widespread, especially among men, who frequent prostitutes. Drug addiction is rising in the south-eastern regions of the country. Surveys show that only 65% of young people, 20 % of married women, and 33% of married men have heard about AIDS.
Nepal
About 68% of drug addicts and 18% of prostitutes have been infected by the HIV-AIDS virus.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan and Uzbekistan have registered an increase in the number of infections, especially among drug addicts. More recently, they and Tajikistan have signed an agreement with international organisations to launch a joint programme to fight AIDS in the region. At present, Central Asia has 90,000 cases and has become a key crossroad in the East-West narcotics traffic. Turkmenistan still refuses to acknowledge any internal AIDS problem.
Middle East
Data for countries in this area are not available.
