Asian Sex Trade Involves 75 Million Men

Up to 10 million women in Asia are sex workers and at least 75 million men are regular clients, according to the newly released Commission on AIDS in Asia report. "Programs increasing use of condoms with sex workers will do more than any other intervention to control HIV infections in Asia," it states.

"Because most men who buy sex either are married or will get married, significant numbers of ostensibly 'low-risk' women who only have sex with their husbands are exposed to HIV," the report noted. "Effective means of preventing HIV infections in the female partners of these men have yet to be developed in Asia, but are clearly essential."

Politicians have largely not provided leadership to destigmatize HIV/AIDS, the report said. Prostitution and homosexual sex are illegal in many Asian countries.

"Hardly any countries are devoting significant resources to programs for men who have sex with men," the report found. "Only 26 percent of the people in need of antiretroviral treatment in Asia are receiving it."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who received the report, said he is ashamed at the stigma still surrounding HIV in Asia. "AIDS has become the single largest cause of work days lost and of deaths related to disease," he said. "We are seeing the beginning of a vicious circle, posing a threat to economic growth and social resilience and leading to more and more infections. ... But if we invest early enough and judiciously enough, we can achieve an effective response."

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