Almost 5 million people were infected by HIV globally this year, one of the highest jumps since the first reported case in 1981, taking the number living with the virus to a record 40.3 million, the UN said yesterday.
The 4.9 million new infections have been fueled by the epidemic's continuing rampage in sub-Saharan Africa and a spike in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the UN's UNAIDS body said in its annual report, released in New Delhi ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
"Despite progress made in a small but growing number of countries, the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global efforts to contain it," the AIDS Epidemic Update 2005 said.
More than 3.1 million people have died this year due to AIDS including 570,000 children -- many more than the total deaths in all natural disasters since last December's tsunami.
In Asia, China and Myanmar are not doing enough to prevent the spread of AIDS, the report said, while praising Thailand as the Asian success story for bringing about a decline in the number of new HIV cases.
China had made slow progress in fulfilling a 2003 pledge to provide antiretroviral treatment to all who need it, the report warned.
"By June 2005, about 20,000 people were receiving the drugs in 28 provinces and autonomous regions," the report said.
The majority of China's cases were found in Yunnan and Henan provinces in the Guangxi autonomous region, it said.
HIV cases had been found in all 31 provinces of China, the UN's annual report said, warning that the combination of commercial sex and injecting drug use "is likely to become the main driver of China's epidemic."
China officially has an estimated 840,000 people infected with HIV, including 80,000 with full-blown AIDS. The prevalence rate is 0.1 percent.
"In Myanmar, limited prevention efforts led HIV to spread freely -- at first within the most at-risk groups and later beyond them. Consequently Myanmar had one of the most serious AIDS epidemics in the region," it said.
In contrast, Thailand offered something of a success story in the fight against AIDS.
"By 2003 the estimated national adult HIV prevalence had dropped to its lowest level ever, approximately 1.5 percent," the report said but noted that only 51 percent of Thai sex workers reported using condoms.
Indonesia and Pakistan were warned of being on the "brink" of a major epidemic.
On India, which has more than 5.13 million people living with HIV/AIDS, second only to South Africa (5.3 million), the world body said overall HIV prevalence continued to rise as it was affecting high-risk population groups.
AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in history.
However, for the first time, there is solid evidence that the increased efforts to combat the disease over the last five years are starting to result in drops in new infections, said UNAIDS chief Peter Piot.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS