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Asia: point of no return?


 Perhaps 1 million people in Asia are HIV positive (1% of the world's total). Even many more people are at risk since Asia has 50% of the world's population. Sexual transmission is the main mode of transmission. Yet people in Asia do not want to deal with sexual behavior. Thus high level political commitment is needed such has been done in Thailand which has set up a national AIDS committee. An AIDS expert predicts that by 1995 the number of HIV positive individuals in Asia will surpass the number of HIV positive individuals in all the developed countries. India, Myanmar, and Thailand where prostitution and intravenous (IV) drug use abounds (the Golden Triangle) suffer from the worst AIDS epidemics in the region. International sex tourism contributes greatly to both the heterosexual and homosexual spread of AIDS. In fact, the national AIDS committee in Thailand has begun a campaign to stop sex tourism, but as of September 1991, it had no effect. Further some sex businesses have attempted to stop the spread of AIDS. For example, 2 brothels in central Thailand have implemented a condom only policy for their clients. High rates of sexually transmitted diseases among prostitutes facilitate HIV transmission. This highlights the need for Asian countries to promote condom use. Not all of the Asian countries screen 100% of their blood and blood products. In fact, in India, commercial blood banks do not always screen donated blood since screening eats into their profits. Further unsterile needles are often used in medical facilities such as in India and Viet Nam. Hong Kong sells inexpensive sterile needles over the counter which may account for its low HIV positive rate among drug users. Despite the many problems in Asia which facilitate HIV transmission, tragedy can be averted if governments act at once.
