New York - The AIDS epidemic is the most likely cause of death for Asians aged 15-44 and could kill almost 500,000 people per year across the continent by 2020, a United Nations-backed commission said Wednesday. Nearly five million people across Asia are currently living with the HIV virus and another 8 million people could become infected by 2020 if governments do not take drastic action to curb the epidemic, the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia warned.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the continent was on the brink of a "vicious cycle" of the disease impacting economic growth and spreading poverty, which would in turn increase the rate of infections.
"This compels us to act immediately and unflinchingly to stop the cycle turning its deadly wheel until it spins out of control," Ban said in launching the report at UN headquarters in New York.
The report, compiled over 18 months by a nine-member panel led by the Indian government's chief economic advisor, said AIDS adversely affected the poor who lacked access to treatment, and largely stemmed from the sex and drug trade.
Ban said reversing the trend would require tackling discrimination against ethnic minorities, homosexuals, migrants, and women who were all more vulnerable to contracting the disease.
About 440,000 people die of AIDS each year in Asia, but the commission said only 0.30 dollars per capita in targeted prevention aid would help curb the rising rates of infection.
Ban called on Asian governments to implement the commission's recommendations to "avert increases in infections and death, prevent economic losses and save millions of people from poverty."
"We have a window of opportunity to prevent the epidemic from expanding further, which will in turn give us a chance to start reversing it," Ban said.
