AIDS Conference in Bangkok

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2004-7-16

This is Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.

The fifteenth International AIDS Conference ended Friday in
Bangkok. The conference takes place every two years. It is the
biggest gathering for scientists, AIDS activists, policymakers and
people with H.I.V. and AIDS. Delegates from more than one hundred
countries attended the meeting in Thailand. They shared information
and urged governments to do more to fight the disease.

The last AIDS conference took place in Barcelona, Spain, in
two-thousand-two. Since then, six million people with AIDS have
died. Ten million more people have become infected. And experts say
the spread of H.I.V. shows no signs of slowing.

The United Nations estimates that
thirty-eight million people are infected with the virus that causes
AIDS. Most are in developing countries in Africa and Asia. But
health officials say these countries do not get enough money to
fight the disease. The World Health Organization says AIDS drugs are
reaching only about seven percent of people in developing countries
who need them.

In recent years, many big drug companies have reduced the prices
of antiretroviral drugs, which suppress the virus. They also have
given some away free. But drugs made by American and European
companies can cost as much as five thousand dollars a year.
Countries like India, Thailand and Brazil make low-cost versions of
AIDS drugs. But supplies are limited.

During the conference, French officials said American trade
policies aim to prevent more countries from making low-cost copies.
An American official denied that.

Delegates in Bangkok urged the United States and Europe to give
more money to U.N. efforts to fight AIDS. But the Bush
administration has its own five-year plan to spend fifteen thousand
million dollars on prevention and treatment.

This plan is similar to one in Uganda. But some delegates said
the plan puts too much importance on urging people not to have sex
until marriage. The Bush administration says just urging people to
use condoms will not stop the spread of H.I.V.

Experts at the International AIDS Conference called for more
money to research new ways to prevent the spread of the virus. They
discussed some methods being tested for women, such as chemicals
that would kill H.I.V. during sex.

Health officials say almost half of all people currently infected
with H.I.V. are women. But, in many areas, infection rates are
rising much faster among women than among men. Scientists say
development of a vaccine to prevent infection is still years away.

During the conference this week in Thailand, there were also
calls for new ways to get more people tested for H.I.V. And former
South African President Nelson Mandela discussed the need to fight
tuberculosis as well. This sickness often kills people with AIDS,
since AIDS robs people of their natural defenses against disease.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk.
This is Steve Ember.


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