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"HIV numbers hit highest levels ever"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(02/12/05)
SINGAPORE: Asia marked World AIDS Day yesterday with free condoms, mobile
phone games and rallies aimed at promoting awareness of a disease that kills
millions each year.
The United Nations launched the annual event yesterday by calling for an
“exceptional response” to the threat and said that while adult infection
rates had dropped in some countries due to increased use of condoms and
changes in sexual behaviour, the epidemic continued to grow.
The number of people living with HIV this year had reached its highest level
ever at an estimated 40.3 million people, Unaids Executive Director Peter
Piot said in a message to mark the occasion. Nearly half of them were women.
In Cambodia, where AIDS has killed 100,000 people and left 70,000 orphaned,
thousands gathered in the capital Phnom Penh to mark the day, waving flags
with safe sex messages.
The impoverished country has managed to slow its adult infection rate, but
authorities say a conservative Buddhist culture has contributed to the
spread of the disease.
In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined volunteers and ballet dancers
to promote AIDS awareness.
There are 5.13 million people in India with HIV, second only to South
Africa.
China's government, worried that the spread of AIDS could damage the
country's economic development, was due to launch an AIDS awareness campaign
to educate millions of migrant workers.
Health workers in red caps and blue jackets with the words “Stop AIDS” on
the back stood in front of Tokyo's Shibuya station conducting surveys about
AIDS and handing out packages containing condoms, information about AIDS
testing and red plastic bracelets.
Japan may be one of the world's most advanced nations, but it is also a
country where AIDS cases have not dropped dramatically. Some experts say
that cumulative numbers could jump to 50,000 by 2010 due to increased sexual
activity among teenagers. — Reuters
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