U.N. World AIDS Day held as disease spreads

In this story: Russian epidemic Conservative attitudes RELATED STORIES, SITES

LONDON -- Men must change their sexual behaviour if the world is to stop the spread of the AIDS killer pandemic, the United Nations has warned as it launched World AIDS Day.

The virus has cut through southern Africa, is firmly gripping Asia and is threatening to spread among wealthier nations that are able to buy expensive anti-viral drugs.

More than 36 million people worldwide are now living with AIDS or the virus that causes it, the U.N. says, while 20 million others have been killed by the disease around the globe.

Countries worldwide are marking the event on Friday with concerts, marches and fundraisers aimed at increasing awareness of the disease.

ALSO Botswana could beat AIDS in 15 years - U.N. report AIDS epidemic is on the move, and Asia is next In India, the face of AIDS is increasingly young     AUDIO Derek Bodell, Chief Executive of the UK National Aids comments on the challenges facing aids prevention. 0.39 MB/35 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    VIDEO CNN's Chris Riker reports on the researchers' progress Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Stars come out to raise money for AIDS research Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Russia's youth is the hardest hit, accordig to CNN's Ryan Chilcote Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Lisa Weaver reports on the unknown extent of HIV and AIDS in China's vast rural areas Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     MESSAGE BOARD AIDS prevention     CNN IN-DEPTH AIDS: Africa in Peril

The disease, which attacks the body's immune system, is passed through direct contact with boby fluids, most commonly during sex, blood transfusions and through drug-users' shared needles.

Africa is the worst hit region but Asia and Russia are also facing the prospect of the disease reaching epidemic proportions.

This year's U.N. campaign, called "Men Make a Difference," is aimed at sending a message to men and adolescent boys that multiple sexual partners, sex without a condom and lack of health care are recipes for disaster.

Often male infection leads to a deadly encounter for women, who are more susceptible biologically to HIV, according to UNAIDS, the world body's coordinating agency in the fight against the deadly virus.

"Men are expected to be physically strong, emotionally robust, daring and virile. Some of these expectations translate into ways of thinking and behaving that endanger the health and well-being of men and their sex partners," an agency spokesman said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "Men can make a particular difference -- by being more caring, by taking fewer risks, and by facing the issue of AIDS head-on," According to a U.N. report issued this week, it is expected that 3 million people will die from AIDS this year, 80 percent of them in Africa.

Russia's health ministry said cases in that country have risen by almost 100 percent during 2000. It said 90 percent of new infections were among intravenous drug users.

Even these figures are modest compared to Botswana, which has the world's highest rate of AIDS virus infection.

According to a U.N. report, 300,000 of Botswana's 1.6 million people -- nearly one in five -- are infected with HIV, which causes AIDS.

But the world body said the country could aspire to halting its epidemic by 2016 if there was a "social revolution" in sexual behavior.

The report, released on the eve of World Aids Day, said the main hope for achieving that goal rests with stopping the spread of the disease to the next generation through a strong campaign of sex education and the promotion of condom use.

According to Derek Bodell of the UK National AIDS Trust, complacency was one of the greatest hurdles in controlling the disease in Europe.

"There is a great complacency with new treatments that ease the symptoms of AIDS being perceived as a cure, which is not the case," Bodell told CNN.

Vietnam marked World AIDS day by sending 11 buses decorated with condoms around the Hanoi and southern city of Ho Chi Minh to distribute condoms and pamphlets aimed at raising AIDS awareness.

The Southeast Asian nation has a major AIDS problem. A total of 24,473 people in Vietnam have tested positive for HIV, but experts say the actual number is in the range of 135,000 to 160,000.

In the Philippines, politician Justo C. Justo organised an event in a Manila suburb in which a nude model held up a giant syringe and posed before an immense model phallus.

Cambodia had the highest AIDS rate in Asia, with 3.3 percent of the population infected and its sex workers had the highest rate in the country with 33 percent infected.

Issues of the Financial Times newspaper sold in Asia raised the alarm about the worsening threat of AIDS worldwide.

"The statistics are horrifying, the consequences are devastating, and the worst is yet to come," the London paper said in an editorial. "In rich countries, prevention efforts have stalled. But it is Africa, where 15 million have already died and another 25 million are infected, where the crisis is at its most acute."

In many Asian countries, where conservative social values are common, the message was compassion for people with AIDS.

The Hong Kong AIDS Foundation set up booths in shopping areas to distribute pamphlets and talk to passers-by about those suffering from AIDS.

"Discrimination still exists. And this year we are promoting acceptance of people with AIDS," said Elsa Lai, the foundation's spokeswoman.

The territory's Health Department is sponsoring a concert given by local pop star Miriam Yeung Chin-wah.

Singapore's Straits Times newspaper marked World Aids Day by showing a large photo on its front page of an emaciated homeless man with HIV huddled over a candle in the corner of a disused shopping center.

"The stigma is so strong that HIV is hidden. It's virtually invisible here," said George Bishop, who teaches social work and psychology at the National University of Singapore.

World AIDS Day emerged from the call by the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention in January 1988.

Each year, it is the only international day of coordinated action against AIDS.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

Pop star Martin makes safe-sex appeal
November 30, 2000
Russia facing AIDS catastrophe
November 16, 2000

World AIDS Day
UNAIDS
AIDS Infoshare International: Russia
Aidslink South Africa
Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.