AIDS in Asia: A Continent in Peril

The spread of AIDS in Asia is accelerating so quickly it will soon overtake growth of the disease in Africa. Over the next two decades, so containment of Asia's epidemics will be decisive to global stability because the region is home to 60 per cent of the world's population. AIDS in Asia is marked by four significant facts: the enormous populations involved; Asia's deliberate denial and inattention by its leader's; Asia's role in the sex trade and drug production; and large economic differences between states that lead to exploitation of the poorest countries in the region (Laos, Burma and Nepal) and stimulate continuous migration of the poor. At the crucial moment when the spread of AIDS in this region is beginning to gain worldwide recognition, distinguished expert Susan Hunter makes clear the catastrophic threat AIDS poses to Asia and the world, and draws on her experience of the pandemic in other regions to map out steps that must be taken in order for it to be contained.… (more)