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HIV
Infections in Asia Could More than Double in 5 Years |
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Today at the Southeast
Asia Sub-Regional Workshop in Manila, UNAIDS' independent Commission on AIDS
in Asia warned the number of HIV infections in the region could increase
more than two-fold to 20 million over the next five years.
The region currently has around 8.6 million HIV cases and about 500,000
annual AIDS deaths. While the resulting regional financial losses are
estimated at $10 billion annually, the economic cost of
HIV/AIDS
is predicted to rise as high as $29 billion a year if more is not done to
combat the epidemic within the next five years.
The economists, policy makers, and civil society members comprising the
nine-member commission are charged with analyzing the socio-economic impact
of HIV/AIDS and making recommendations for curtailing the region's epidemic.
Reasons for the region's inadequate response include low levels of awareness
and understanding among policy makers as to the disease's long-term impact,
as well as the difficulty of predicting the dynamics of disease progression.
Investments in HIV control in the region remain extremely low - just 10
percent of the $5 billion needed annually, the commission said.
Chakravarthy Rangarajan, head of the commission and chair of Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh's economic advisory council, said regional
governments must mobilize more domestic funds for HIV/AIDS control.
Currently, he noted, more than 80 percent of such funding comes from foreign
donors.
UNAIDS data show that while the number of people in the region receiving
antiretroviral therapy has more than tripled since 2003, just 16 percent of
those in need in Asia are on treatment. Thailand is the only regional
country providing treatment to at least 50 percent of those in need, UNAIDS
added.
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Associated Press
(03.30.07) |
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without conducting any additional research or investigation into the
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Update also includes information from CDC and
other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact
sheets and announcements. |
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