SYDNEY, Dec 1, 2006 (AFP) - Australia on Friday pledged an extra 215 million dollars (170 million US) to help its neighbours tackle one of the world's fastest growing HIV epidemics, amid signs it was losing its own battle.
On World Aids Day, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer unveiled a host of new programmes to curb the spread of the virus affecting 8.6 million people in the Asia-Pacific region, one million of whom were infected in the last year alone.
Downer said Australia would double the funds it already provided to help injecting drug users avoid the infection in Burma, Vietnam and two southern provinces of China, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines.
He said the latest contribution went some way towards meeting the country's promise to provide 600 million dollars to the regional HIV fight.
Australia would also kick off a new five-year program next year to fight the epidemic in Papua New Guinea, its closest neighbour, which accounted for up to 90 percent of the Pacific's infections, or 64,000 people.
"(The new program) will continue to strengthen the PNG government's response to this epidemic and build the capacity of the country's health system to cope with the disease and its impact," Downer said.
Australia had already trained 620 health workers and 1,400 counsellors to care for and support people living with HIV/AIDS in PNG, as well as setting up 17 community care centres for HIV positive people, he said.
The country's latest push to help with regional epidemics built upon the successes it had achieved at home, Downer said.
"For example, in Vietnam where the epidemic is largely driven by injecting drug use, we have been able to share the lessons and know-how we developed in dealing with our own HIV epidemic," he said.
However recent data indicated the success of massive public awareness campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s was beginning to wear off in Australia.
Health Minister Tony Abbott said that while Australia compared favourably to other countries, a 41 percent surge in new diagnoses in the last six years was a problem that called for an overhaul of prevention strategies.
"All of us are very concerned about the recent increase in HIV/AIDS notifications. This obviously does suggest we need to have a rethink about our policies," he said, suggesting a new awareness blitz was on the horizon.
Abbott also expressed concern over people bringing the virus to Australia from Papua New Guinea, which had a 1.8 percent infection rate, via the Torres Strait.
"It is a worry. We are doing everything we possibly can but in the end we can't control what goes on in other sovereign countries," he said.
061201
AF061205
Copyright ©AFP 2006. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2006 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
