HIV Infections in Asia Could More Than Double in 5 Years

Today at the Southeast Asia Sub-Regional workshop in Manila, UNAIDS' independent Commission on AIDS in Asia warned the number of HIV infections in the region could increase more than two-fold to 20 million over the next five years.

The region currently has around 8.6 million HIV cases and about 500,000 annual AIDS deaths. While the resulting regional financial losses are estimated at $10 billion annually, the economic cost of HIV/AIDS is predicted to rise as high as $29 billion a year if more is not done to combat the epidemic within the next five years.

The economists, policy makers and civil society members comprising the nine-member commission are charged with analyzing the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS and making recommendations for curtailing the region's epidemic.

Reasons for the region's inadequate response include low levels of awareness and understanding among policy makers as to the disease's long-term impact, as well as the difficulty of predicting the dynamics of disease progression. Investments in HIV control in the region remain extremely low -- just 10 percent of the $5 billion needed annually, the commission said.

Chakravarthy Rangarajan, head of the commission and chair of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic advisory council, said regional governments must mobilize more domestic funds for HIV/AIDS control. Currently, he noted, more than 80 percent of such funding comes from foreign donors.

UNAIDS data show that while the number of people in the region receiving antiretroviral therapy has more than tripled since 2003, just 16 percent of those in need in Asia are on treatment. Thailand is the only regional country providing treatment to at least 50 percent of those in need, UNAIDS added.

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