Aids is Surging in Asia, Warns Un

There will be an "explosive" spread of Aids into new areas unless more resources are freed to fight the growing epidemic, the UN and World Heath Organisation (WHO) warned today.

Launching their annual Aids epidemic update in London today, the UN and WHO said that the virus, which has already killed 24 million people worldwide, is expected to "surge" in Asia in the next five years unless prevention efforts are increased.

The epidemic is also fuelling a famine in southern Africa which is already threatening the lives of 14 million people.

The report, Aids Epidemic Update 2002, is compiled by UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on HIV/Aids, and WHO. Its publication precedes World Aids Day on December 1.

The report reveals that 42 million people around the world are now living with HIV, five million were newly-infected this year alone, and 3.1 million people were killed by Aids in the past 12 months.

Highlighting the latest trends in the spread of the disease, the report reveals the epidemic is fuelling the African famine already gripping Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. All six of these countries are battling serious Aids epidemics, with more than five million adults infected there.

"The famine in southern Africa brings the world face to face with the deep and devastating impact of Aids," said Dr Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS.

"What we are seeing today in a number of countries of sub-Saharan Africa is an HIV epidemic that is overwhelming the coping resources of entire communities.

"We must act now, on a much larger scale than anything we have done before, not only to assist those nations already hard-hit, but also to stop the explosive growth of Aids in the parts of the world where the epidemic is newly emerging."

The report also shows a rapidly expanding epidemic in new areas, with the disease spreading fastest in eastern Europe and the central Asian republics.

Asia is also expected to suffer a surge in the epidemic, with China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea facing a growth in their epidemics.

Some countries, especially in eastern Europe and Asia, are facing a "critical moment" and unless action is taken they are warned the spread of Aids could become unstoppable, the report says.

The report does cite some successes, through national initiatives targeting vulnerable groups such as drug users and sex workers.

There have been early signs of success in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia and South Africa, where rates of infection in some groups have levelled off or decreased.

But the report calls for greater political leadership and, from 2007 onwards, $15bn (£10bn) each year for a decade at least to be spent worldwide to combat the spread of the epidemic.

The report was being released at a press conference in central London today.

It follows a survey by the Terrence Higgins Trust indicating that while the HIV infection rate in the UK is rising, there is an alarming complacency about the disease among young people, a third of whom mistakenly think there is a cure for Aids.