Wed, 07:40 11 Nov 2009 GMT17

 
AIDS in Asia

Last reviewed: 27-11-2008

SOCIAL STIGMA HELPS DRIVE PANDEMIC


An AIDS awareness campaign in the Indian city of Chandigarh, 2005.<BR>
REUTERS/Ajay Verma
An AIDS awareness campaign in the Indian city of Chandigarh, 2005.
REUTERS/Ajay Verma
Asia has the second highest HIV/AIDS caseload after sub-Saharan Africa.

But overall figures are a little unclear after estimates for India were more than halved in 2007.

India was previously thought to have the world's highest caseload with 5.7 million infections.

But the United Nations has revised its estimate down to 2.4 million, putting India behind South Africa and Nigeria.

The spread of HIV in Asia has been fuelled in part by the sex industry, with intravenous drug use also a factor, says the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Unprotected sex between men is a potentially significant but under-researched factor in the HIV pandemic in Asia, according to the 2008 UNAIDS report.

KEY FACTS FOR ASIA


Estimated number in Asia living with HIV 5 million (UNAIDS, 2008)
Estimated number who died from AIDS related illnesses in 2007 380,000 (UNAIDS, 2008)
Number in India living with HIV in 2007 Around 2.4 million (UNAIDS, 2008)
Asian countries where HIV epidemic is growing include: Indonesia - especially Papua, Vietnam and Pakistan (UNAIDS, 2008)

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Smoke rise from chimneys at a steel and iron plant in Zhongyang county, Shanxi province November 10, 2009. The United States hopes to reach sn agreement with China during President Barack ...


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