Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005
Andrew Quinn

The United Nations said that while adult infection rates had dropped in some countries due to increased use of condoms and changes in sexual behavior, the epidemic continued to grow.

The number of people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said. Nearly half of them are women.

AIDS has killed more than 3 million people this year.

"The lessons of nearly 25 years into the AIDS epidemic are clear. Investments made in HIV prevention break the cycle of new infections. By making these investments, each and every country can reverse the spread of AIDS," Piot said.

Some Asian countries marked the day by handing out free condoms and holding flag-festooned rallies to promote awareness.

In Africa rage and remorse combined as the continent worst hit by the global crisis remembered its dead.

"Money earmarked for HIV/AIDS has gone into everything else but AIDS," fumed Meris Kafusi, a 64-year-old AIDS patient in Tanzania who only recently began receiving life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that are widespread in the West.

"Organizations that say they are dealing with AIDS are always in seminars or workshops. They should be buying food for widows and orphans ... Is this fair?"

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst place for worldwide HIV/AIDS deaths as well as for new infections -- cutting life expectancy in many countries, leaving millions of children orphaned and reducing agricultural output.

The latest U.N. estimates say 26 million of the 40 million people infected with HIV worldwide live in Africa.

President George W. Bush said U.S. efforts were helping 400,000 people get treatment in African countries such as Uganda and Kenya -- up from 50,000 two years ago.

"These countries, and many others, are fighting for the lives of their citizens, and America is now their strongest partner in that fight," he said.

In 2003 Bush pledged $15 billion over five years to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. But critics including senior U.N. officials say his emphasis on abstinence-only programs has hobbled efforts by playing down the role of condoms.

The Roman Catholic Church's ban on condoms, fiercely attacked by many health workers, went unmentioned when Pope Benedict said abstinence and marital fidelity were helping combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in parts of Africa.

TALKING ABOUT SAFE SEX

Politicians say taboos need to be broken to tackle AIDS.

In France, President Jacques Chirac said schools should be equipped with condom vending machines and youths should be able to buy a condom for 20 cents.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on his people to shed their inhibitions and start talking openly about safe sex.

"This, quite obviously, has to change if we are to succeed in creating awareness of the hazards of unsafe sexual practices," he told a gathering of young politicians.

India says it has 5.13 million people with HIV/AIDS, the second largest number after South Africa.

China's government, worried that the spread of AIDS could damage economic development, was due to launch an awareness campaign to educate millions of migrant workers -- farmers who flock to cities in search of higher-paying jobs.

Health Minister Gao Qiang said on Wednesday China aimed to keep the number of people infected by HIV virus to below 1.5 million by 2010, a forecast sharply lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate of 10 million if nothing is done.

The WHO's chief China representative, Henk Bekedam, said China had made some making progress in slowing the rise in infection rates.

"What we have seen over the past three years is that China has taken action, and we do believe that this is now an old figure," he said, referring to the 10 million figure.

Estimates of AIDS in China, which was long secretive about the disease, are clouded by uncertainty and controversy.

But the anti-AIDS message is still falling on deaf ears in some parts of the world.

Health workers in red caps and blue jackets with the words "Stop AIDS" on the back stood in front of Tokyo's Shibuya station handing out packages containing condoms, information about AIDS testing and red plastic bracelets.

But when a health worker approached one group of high school boys, they laughed in an embarrassed way and waved her away.

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