Forum urges Asia Pacific to step up HIV/AIDS fight

COLOMBO, Aug 23 (Reuters) Asian countries must work hard to keep their HIV/AIDS prevalence low compared to rates in Africa by tackling root causes such as poverty, gender inequality and marginalisation, experts said today.

Human trafficking into prostitution, intravenous drug use and conflict continue to spread HIV in Asia, experts warned as the eighth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific wrapped up in the Sri Lankan capital.

''This conference ... gives us an opportunity to revisit and re-enforce our commitment to halt and reverse the HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific,'' said Dr Samlee Plianbanchang, Southeast Asia regional director for the World Health Organisation.

An estimated 5.4 million people in the Asia-Pacific region are living with HIV, the world's second largest number after sub-Saharan Africa -- where 25.8 million people are infected.

Anywhere between 140,000 and 610,000 people die from AIDS-related illnesses in the Asia-Pacific region each year, according to UNAIDS.

Safeguarding rights of the most vulnerable, such as sex workers, intravenous drug users, and women and children trafficked in the region is essential in tandem with prevention programmes, experts say.

''Governments should recognise rights and listen to the voice of women. They ... should stop treating drug use as a criminal offence and treat it as public health issue,'' said the conference chairman, Sri Lankan expert Professor AH Sheriffdeen.

Sri Lanka has one of Asia's lowest HIV rates, with an estimated 5,000 infected in a population of around 20 million.

Neighbouring India, by comparison, has the world's third highest HIV caseload after South Africa and Nigeria, with around 2.5 million living with the virus.

REUTERS AM RN1628