Global AIDS Conference to focus on Asia

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 22 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PDT


Top of the Global AIDS Conference in Thailand will be getting drugs to millions of people around the world. A special focus will be on Asia, where AIDS has become a serious problem.

Very few poor people worldwide have access to anti-AIDS drugs. Billions of dollars have been pledged to fight AIDS, in fact, 40 billion, but the impact has been tiny so far.

The 15th International AIDS Conference will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, July 11-16.

Gustaaf Wolvaardt, senior adviser to the conference, said "How do you make these drugs available and how do you get programs in place to ensure people take them on a regular basis?"

Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela have been invited. 20,000 delegates are expected at the conference.

Six pharmaceutical companies have announced that the number of people in Africa who get the cheaper medicines (for AIDS) as a result of an industry initiative has gone up to 150,000 - that is twice as many people as before. They also added that this is just a beginning, and there is a long way to go.

According to the UN, 400,000 people in developing receive treatment for HIV/AIDS, but 6,000,000 need it. We are talking here about people who need the treatment to stay alive. The UN plans to bring the number of people in developing countries who receive treatment up to 3,000,000.

Wolvaardt said "The drugs are available, the costs are down, there is enough practical experience to make these programs sustainable. What I would hope is that governments will go back and realize this is something they can do."

AIDS is spreading in Asia at an alarming rate. The conference organisers would like this problem to be highlighted in the conference.

Heads of India and China have been invited. There is no confirmation yet that they are coming. AIDS experts are worried that the AIDS crisis in China and India could become as bad as the African epidemic if action is not taken soon.

Wolvaardt said that China and India have 25% of the world's population. If the AIDS problem becomes like the African epidemic, the numbers of people with AIDS/HIV and dying from it would be enormous.

In India, having AIDS carries with it a huge social stigma. About 4.5 million people are infected in India. Dealing with the problem will be difficult there because of this social stigma.

AIDS experts say that if China does not do something drastic, it could be looking at 10 million Chinese people infected by the end of this decade.

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