Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - Wednesday, July 3, 2002
Anjira Assavanonda
The UN report on the global HIV/Aids epidemic was released worldwide yesterday, ahead of the 14th International Aids Conference to be held in Barcelona, Spain, from July 7-12.
On the global picture, the report forecast that due to a lack of expanded prevention and treatment efforts, 68 million people would die from Aids in 45 most affected countries between 2000-2020, more than five times the 13 million deaths from the epidemic in the past two decades.
It warned the Aids epidemic was still in an early phase, and HIV prevalence was climbing higher than ever predicted in the worst-affected countries.
In a number of southern African countries, where prevalence rates were highest, up to one-half of new mothers could die of Aids.
In many other parts of the world, HIV had moved beyond groups considered to be at highest risk and was spreading more quickly and widely.
In China, where almost all cases of HIV/Aids were previously transmitted through drug injection and other "unsafe blood practices", the epidemic was now spreading through heterosexual contact.
In Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country, infection rates were rising rapidly, following a decade of consistently low infection rates there.
In Cameroon the adult prevalence rate, which remained in the low single digit from 1988 through 1996, was now at almost 12%, the report said.
"These data demonstrate that HIV/Aids is spreading rapidly in parts of the world where the epidemic had seemed stable or was previously confined to groups at highest risk of infection," said UNAids executive director Peter Piot.
The report also pointed out that young people were at greatest risk of infection.
About half of all new adult infections today were among people aged 15-24, it said. Almost 12 million young people were living with HIV, and about 6,000 more became infected every day. Meanwhile, 14 million children today have lost one or both parents to Aids, and the number would continue to grow rapidly, the report said.
"The unprecedented destruction wrought by HIV/Aids epidemic over the past 20 years will multiply several times in the decades to come, unless the fight against the disease is dramatically expanded," Dr Piot said.
The report also showed that less than 4% of those in need in the developing world have access to anti-retroviral treatment at the end of 2001.
In Africa, where only 30,000 of the 28.5 million infected were receiving antiretroviral treatment, Aids reportedly killed 2.2 million people.
In Thailand, though the country was accredited for its comprehensive prevention programmes which reduced the number of annual infections from 143,000 in 1991 to 29,000 in 2001, the report pointed out Aids remained the country's leading cause of death.
It raised concern the epidemic could break out of its current pattern and spread further unless prevention efforts were adapted to the changes.
Sompong Charoensuk, country programme adviser of UNAids Thailand, said although the country was considered successful in its condom-use campaign and decrease in the new infection rate, Thais remained prone to other risk behaviour including drug use by injection and sex without protection.
While intravenous drug users were being treated, he said, more attention should be paid to methamphetamine addicts who began to turn to injecting drugs, as well as homosexual groups and pregnant women.
Mr Sompong suggested networking of HIV-positive people and community involvement could be key solutions in the fight against Aids.
020703
BP020703
Copyright © 2002 - The Bangkok Post. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Bangkok Post.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2002. AEGiS. 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. .