News and Updates
| Thursday, November 25, 2004 |
Asian HIV infection rate sparks warning
Bangkok, Thailand: The battle against AIDS is at a critical stage in Asia as sharp rise in infections driven by the sex industry has left more than eight million people living with HIV, the UN reported.
The number of Asians with the virus iumped by one million over the past two years, bringing the total number of infected people in the region to 8.2 million, according to an annual report by UNAIDS and the WHO.
Some 5.1 million of those infected live in India- the highest number in the world for any country excapt South Africa.
Among the worst affected are women in East Asia, who are contracting the virus at a faster rate than in the rest of the world. In many cases this is because men who have visited prostitutes are increasingly passing on the infection to their wives.
About 2.3 million of the 8.2 million living with HIV in Asia are women- an increase of 56 per cent since 2002. Growing drug injaction is also contributing to the spread of the disease.
Win-Site Cheng, regional advisor on HIV/AIDS for UNICEF, told a news conference in Bangkok that transmission from husbands to wives is the predominant pattern in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and some parts of China.
?Most women around the world are HIV-infected through their partners? high-risk behavior, over which they wield little or (no) control.? She said.
In Thailand, about 90 per cent of HIV transmissions 12 years ago were between prostitutes and their clients. But now, about half of all infections are occurring in the wives of men who visit prostitutes.
AIDS has now been detected in all parts of the mainland, and public health programs are making little headway. The report cited a 2003 survey which revealed one in five Chinese could not name a single way to protect themselves against the virus.
In Indonesia, which has the world?s fourth largest population, the spread of HIV is largely confined to prisoners, drug users and commercial sex workers.
Programs in Thailand and Cambodia to promote the use of condoms in areas associated with prostitution have reduced the percentage of sex workers with HIV.
Despite the grim news, the report said many Asian nations could still avert potential epidemics and urged them not to waste a golden opportunity.
It said Bangladesh, East Timor, Laos, Pakisatan and the Philippines all had very low HIV prevalence rates and could stave off potential epidemics if they adopted effective prevention programs.
Thailand was widely praised in the 1990s for its unflinching response to the AIDS epidemic, including promoting the use of condoms that helps reduce new annual infections fro 143,000 in 1991, to 19,000 last year.
The UN estimated that 3.1 million pople will have died world-wide from AIDS this year- more than 540,000 of them in Asia.
Source: Agence France-Presse,
South China Morning Post, Nov. 24, 2004
posted by Prawate at Thursday, November 25, 2004
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| Thursday, November 18, 2004 |
WORLD AIDS SUNDAY
"Women and HIV/AIDS:
Woman, great is your faith" The World Health Organization declared the first World AIDS Day in 1988. The day, 1 December, quickly became established as one of the world's most successful commemorative days and is now recognized and celebrated by a diverse range of constituents every year around the globe.
Then, in 1997, recognizing the need for year-round campaign activity for HIV and AIDS, UNAIDS launched the first year-long World AIDS Campaign.
In June 2001, the United Nations General Assembly held a Special Session on HIV/AIDS where governments agreed to a set of targets and goals to fight AIDS in a Declaration of Commitment. Following the session, UN agencies and governments started to organize themselves around the promises outlined in the Declaration. Now, civil society is also seeking to ensure its campaigning and advocacy efforts are similarly coordinated through a strengthened World AIDS Campaign.
The year 2004 sees the Campaign entering an exciting transition phase. The theme for World AIDS Day 2004 focuses on "Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS". Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and to the impact of AIDS. Around half of all people living with HIV in the world are female. The rate of HIV infection among young people worldwide is growing rapidly - 67% of newly infected individuals in the developing world are young people aged between 15 and 24 years. The escalating risk is especially evident among young women and girls (15-24 years), who make up 64% of the young people in developing countries living with HIV/AIDS.
The World AIDS Campaign accelerates the global response to HIV and AIDS through a focus on women and girls - preventing new infections, promoting equal access to treatment and mitigating the impact of AIDS. A small resource pack has been produced produced by the Christian Conference of Asia, the Hong Kong Christian Council and the St. John's Cathedral HIV Education Centre. Please click here to download the resources pack.
We hope you will use these resources as a tool for education in worship bringing Light, Hope and Justice into the world. Please fee free to adapt the liturgy for your own setting and choosing your own music and hymns.
posted by cbs at Thursday, November 18, 2004
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