Alerting the risk of new HIV infection in Asia

The UN Organization warns that more and more people are infected with HIV around the world, including in Uganda and Thailand - countries that were once considered to be typical of success in the fight against AIDS.

According to the UNAIDS organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), today, 39.5 million people are infected with HIV worldwide. In particular, Asia has 8.6 million people, up nearly 1 million compared to last year.

A Chinese couple in front of an anti-AIDS propaganda poster (Photo: TTO)

The cause of the report is that ineffective prevention programs, at least did not keep up with the trend of the century's spread. Programs often target those most at risk, while HIV begins to spread to others.

For example, Thailand has been very successful in promoting HIV prevention measures for residents of the " red light district " ten years ago. "But prostitutes and sex buyers are no longer the main subjects of infection," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS director.

HIV virus is currently moving from high risk groups to communities. In China, more and more people are infected without knowing it. The Ministry of Health of the country yesterday said the number of new infections since the beginning of the year has increased by 30% over the same period last year.

Mr. Duong Hao, an official in charge of the Ministry of Health's AIDS program, confirmed that about 1% of pregnant women are infected with HIV. The Thai government, due to its focus on sex workers, has forgotten about addicts, which have an increasing rate of HIV infection. Whereas new surveys in Uganda show that men in this country are getting more and more affectionate and don't use condoms often.

In India, the country has the largest number of HIV infections in the world (5.7 million), the outdated and inefficient management of government HIV / AIDS prevention projects has spread HIV, according to Mr. Ashok Alexander - Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates HIV Project. Mr. Alexander said how these projects could be effective when nearly two-thirds of MPs had the notion that HIV was transmitted through clothing . according to a recent survey.

Last week, Channel News Asia quoted the Singapore Health Commission as saying that the number of new HIV infections in the country in the first six months of the year has increased compared to the same period last year. The most widely recognized island nation in the world has nearly 3,000 HIV infected people officially recognized (the actual number may be 3-4 times higher).

'If we really want to reduce the number of unnecessary deaths because of HIV / AIDS, we invest more in the prevention and treatment of this disease' - Anners Nordstrom, WHO general manager, called.

MINH HUY synthesized