A new UN report concludes that AIDS is a global threat on a par with nuclear terrorism and warned of the potential of viral infections to claim tens of millions of lives worldwide in a matter of months.
The report, commissioned by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and released Tuesday, cautioned wealthy nations that, in an age of globalization and mass travel, they ignored the scourge of AIDS and other infectious illnesses at their own peril.
While sub-Saharan Africa and Asia account for the majority of HIV infections, the report said the security of the most affluent countries could be “held hostage” to the ability of the poorest states to contain an emerging disease.
– Because international flight times are shorter than the incubation periods for many infectious diseases, any one of 700 million international airline passengers every year can be an unwitting global disease-carrier, it said.
Citing the death of 100 million people worldwide from the influenza pandemic of 1919, the report said that, today, a similar virus “could kill tens of millions in a fraction of the time.”
Highlighting the absence of any strategy to counter the long-term affects of AIDS, it also urged the UN Security Council to host a special session on HIV/AIDS as “a threat to international peace and security” on a level with nuclear proliferation, terrorism and inter-state conflict.
Despite an increase in international spending to combat AIDS from 250 million dollars in 1996 to 2,8 billion dollars in 2002, the report said the spread of the disease remained “rampant,” and estimated the cost of stemming infection rates at 10 billion dollars annually.
The warnings about AIDS formed part of the reports underlying message that the international community needed a new consensus on global security that encompasses threats to both developing and developed nations and treats them with equal seriousness.
Peter Piot, the head of UN AIDS program said that he number of HIV infections in China, India and Russia is on the verge of exploding into a crisis that could lead to tens of millions of new cases and threaten the stability of the world economy.
Meanwhile, the number of cases in other Asian countries, such as Indonesia, is growing quickly, and swift action is needed to stop the spread of AIDS across the continent. – There is something new and ominous in the course of this epidemic, Mr. Piot said adding: – When the very act essential to furthering the human race also threatens it, then we are in a very dangerous place.
Piot called for intensified international efforts to fight AIDS in Asia and Eastern Europe, without harming efforts to stem the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is already an epidemic.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday called for “unremitting efforts” in Chinas fight against AIDS, admitting the country was facing a “stark situation” in tackling the epidemic. While praising Chinas “remarkable progress” in its HIV/AIDS prevention and control work, Wen acknowledged that the country was facing a worsening crisis.
He urged government departments at all levels to “give priority” to the issue, by “utilizing all sorts of resources and conscientiously implementing all preventive and control policies and measures.”
China for years denied AIDS was an issue and only started seriously addressing the problem in the past two years. Even so, ignorance about AIDS remains rife, with sufferers routinely facing widespread discrimination by local police, health authorities and the public.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
