WASHINGTON, Nov 27, 2006 (AFP) - Former US President Bill Clinton is to announce new progress in HIV/AIDS treatment for children in an event to mark World AIDS Day in India as part of an Asian trip, his foundation said Monday.
Clinton will be joined at the event in New Delhi on Thursday -- eve of World AIDS Day on December 1 -- by French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and India's ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi, the Clinton Foundation said.
India has the world's largest number of HIV/AIDS cases, with 5.7 million people living with the virus.
The ex-US president's visit is part of an international trip covering sites affected by the 2004 Asian Tsunami and locations where the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative operates, a statement from the foundation said.
Clinton "will mark World AIDS Day by announcing new progress in the effort to increase access to pediatric HIV/AIDS treatment," the statement said, without elaborating.
The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative helps governments of developing countries expand HIV/AIDS care and treatment and has negotiated deep reductions in AIDS drug pricing, the foundation said.
As a result, it said, more than 400,000 people currently access anti-retroviral drugs through the Clinton Foundation's agreements.
Clinton is also expected to visit Cambodia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea to discuss the HIV/AIDS problem as well as tsunami-affected areas in Thailand and Indonesia, reports said.
President Clinton is a special UN envoy for the recovery of economies hit by a tsunami in 2004 that left 220,000 people dead.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a national radio speech broadcast Monday that Clinton would visit the country "in the next few days".
In 2005, the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative established an office in Cambodia, which has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Southeast Asia, with 1.9 percent of the population of 13.8 million suffering from the disease.
Despite some victories -- Cambodia was the first Asian nation to halt a spiraling infection rate -- only a fraction of HIV-positive Cambodians have access to affordable treatment, and are increasingly the target of discrimination.
In Vietnam, news reports said, Clinton would meet government representatives on HIV/AIDS prevention next week and visit a hospital where an HIV/AIDS treatment program supported by his foundation was being implemented.
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