International conference in Bangkok deals with growing frequency of the disease in the region

　　By NI YANSHUO

　　AIDS is on the rise in Asia. The loss of life from this fatal disease is not only a health risk, but also a threat to social and economic development. On July 11-16, the 15th International AIDS Conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand, drawing approximately 17,000 participants from more than 160 countries and regions, including governmental officials, scientists, medical and social workers. They discussed control and prevention of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

　　RED SILK: A Chinese volunteer AIDS worker answers questions at an AIDS awareness event called “China Red Ribbon Action,” held in Thailand in conjunction with the 15th International AIDS Conference

　　“AIDS is far more than a health crisis. It is a threat to development itself,” said Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, at the conference. He added that HIV was spreading in Asia at a surprising rate. He urged “stronger leadership at every level—including at the top” to break “the deadly wall of silence that continues to surround the epidemic.”

　　The host country also showed its concern for AIDS worldwide. “Alarmingly enough, it seems that HIV is still in its infancy and is likely to continue to spread, rather than go away by itself,” said Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the opening ceremony of the Bangkok conference.

　　Urgency in Asia

　　The United Nations issued an AIDS epidemic report on July 6, providing an account of the disease worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa remains a region most severely affected, where the disease continues to spread through drug use, sex and by birth. The region, whose population makes up 10 percent of the world total, has 25 million HIV carriers, which accounts for a staggering 70 percent of all documented cases.

　　However, the report also says that Asia, the continent with the world’s largest population, has become one of the regions with the highest growth rate of HIV carriers. The report warned that Asia has become “epidemic-stricken” and the situation could deteriorate disastrously if no urgent measures are taken. Of the 5 million people infected worldwide in 2003, more than 1 million were in Asia. A total of 2.9 million people died from AIDS that year, about 500,000 in Asian countries.

　　India has the second largest number of people infected with AIDS, next to South Africa. Trust of India, a newspaper, reported on July 11 that India is very likely to surpass South Africa in 2006, having the world’s largest number of HIV carriers. It cited a medical science study submitted to the Bangkok conference as saying HIV is spreading particularly quickly among certain groups such as drug users and prostitutes. It also said that the disease would spread more rapidly once the virus enters other social spheres.

　　China, with the world’s largest population, formally stated that it would make its contribution to the regional and global fight against AIDS.

　　In an article published prior to the Bangkok conference, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on the Chinese people to prevent and control the disease, saying AIDS is a major public health and social issue facing the international community.

　　With technical support from the World Health Organization, a UN institution, the Chinese Ministry of Health concluded from a survey last year that there were about 840,000 HIV carriers in China, including 80,000 AIDS patients, living mainly in rural areas.

　　Costly Patent Rights

　　The use of generic drugs was a key topic at the weeklong conference, whose theme was “Access to All,” a reference to giving each HIV-infected person the right to use treatment. However, UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) figures show that a mere 7 percent of people in low- and middle-income countries who needed anti-retroviral drugs actually received them in 2003. Most AIDS medication, developed in wealthy countries, are patented, which means other countries have to pay large sums of money to produce name brand drugs. Many countries simply cannot afford such medicine.

　　Doctors Without Borders, based in Belgium, has criticized such practices, saying they overstress patent right protection. Because of strict patent protection, some developing countries have had to stop making and buying cheaper imitations of effective medicines, threatening AIDS treatment projects there.

　　The organization issued an annual report this month, saying 5 million to 6 million AIDS patients in low- and middle-income countries will die from the epidemic in the coming two years if they cannot get drugs timely.

　　Thailand, in a global patent fight with European and U.S. pharmaceutical giants for making generic AIDS medication, has raised this issue: What is more important—trade rules or people’s lives?

　　The WTO agreed to allow poor nations make copies of name brand medicines to fight fatal diseases in times of national health crises last September.

　　Cost is a big obstacle for patients in receiving medical treatment in poor countries. When the Thai Government Pharmaceutical Organization started producing the three-drug pill in March 2002, monthly cost for the treatment of one person plummeted from $500-$750 to $30, which means more AIDS patients can afford the medication.

　　“This is a very big challenge. How can we cope with such a high number of patients? We are trying very hard to look for even cheaper drugs,” said Sombat Thanprasertsuk, Director of the Thailand’s AIDS bureau.

　　The World Health Organization asserted on July 10 that its goal of delivering anti-retroviral therapy to 3 million people infected with HIV in poor countries by the end of 2005 could still be met despite obstacles that have severely limited the number now under treatment.

　　The program, known as 3 by 5, has been a subject of debate since the agency’s director general, Dr. Lee Jong-wook, announced it last fall. In its first progress report, issued a day before the AIDS conference, the World Health Organization estimated that 440,000 people were being treated. Although this is about twice as many as in 2002, said Dr. Jim Kim, Director of the agency’s AIDS program, the agency fell 60,000 short of its goal.