|
Asian countries observe World AIDS Day
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-01 21:57
In Jakarta, UNAIDS head Peter Piot on Thursday said Indonesia must do more
faster to prevent a major epidemic, a day after he criticized leaders for not
taking a more active role in fighting the disease. He urged President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono step up and take charge of the campaign.
"There are small but significant and rising AIDS epidemics, and this is the
time for Indonesia to scale up its response to it," Piot said.
An estimated 150,000 to 250,000 people are infected in the sprawling
archipelago, but the virus is spreading quickly among injecting drug users, as
well as sex workers and their clients, he said.
Countries across Asia said more focus must be placed on educating young
people if the world has any chance of getting a grip on the disease. An
estimated 8.3 million people are living with HIV in Asia, with 1.1 million newly
infected last year, UNAIDS said in a recent report.
"Twenty-five years into the pandemic, this disease is becoming more visible
in Pakistan yet continues to have an invisible face, a missing face, a young
person's face. This needs to change," UNICEF representative Omar Abdi said in a
statement Wednesday.
While its nationwide infection rate remains low,
Pakistan contains all the ingredients for a potential HIV explosion, including
poverty, illiteracy, a sex industry and injecting drug users, said Samia Hashim,
UNAIDS senior national program officer in the country.
|
