November 3, 1997
Report: AIDS May Erupt in E. Europe
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New evidence suggests that while countries in sub-Saharan Africa have the most
people infected with AIDS -- 14 million -- the deadly virus may be on the verge of exploding in Eastern
Europe, the former Soviet Union and other regions, the World Bank reported today.
A bank report recommended that governments act as quickly as possible with intensive prevention
efforts, especially among people who have many sex partners or inject drugs using unsterilized needles.
''Confronting AIDS requires that government officials take the necessary steps to confront the epidemic
even when these are politically controversial,'' said Joseph Stiglitz, the bank's chief economist and a
former adviser to President Clinton.
Although AIDS in developing countries increases poverty and inequality, Stiglitz said, the situation is far
from hopeless.
''Some 2.3 billion people live in parts of the world where AIDS is still relatively scarce, even among
people most likely to contract it,'' he said. Even where AIDS is more prevalent, we can and must address
it.''
He said the World Bank was one of the largest sources of money for AIDS prevention, having committed
$632 million to 61 projects in 41 countries.
In many countries, government-backed prevention programs do not reach people with the riskiest
behavior, said the bank, a leading international lending agency.
''In every country that now has a serious epidemic, people said, 'It can't happen here.' They were wrong,''
said Martha Ainsworth, a co-author of the report, ''Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global
Epidemic.''
''By the time that many AIDS cases are observed, it is too late to avert a serious epidemic. HIV (the
AIDS virus) will already have spread widely,'' she said.
In some countries, Ms. Ainsworth said, life expectancy is 10 to 20 years shorter than it would have been
in the absence of AIDS.
The 327-page report differs from many other studies analyzing the epidemic by focusing on how
government decision-makers should allocate resources to combat AIDS.
It said 23 million people are infected with HIV, with 8,500 new cases each day. Approximately 90 percent
of all HIV infections occur in developing countries, where resources to confront the epidemic are most
scarce.
''Short of an affordable cure, this toll is certain to rise, the report said. ''But the course of the epidemic is
not carved in stone.''
It said that ''for the 2.3 billion people living in parts of the world where the epidemic is nascent, an early
active government response encouraging safer behavior among those likely to contract and spread the
virus has the potential to avert untold suffering and save lives.''
Among countries in the early stages of the epidemic are Bangladesh, the Philippines, most countries of
the former Soviet Union, much of Eastern Europe and parts of China and India, the report said.
More than 40 developing countries have concentrated epidemics, including Latin America, parts of West
Africa and most of Indochina, the study found. |
