by Marwaan Macan-Markar (IPS) BANGKOK -- in Asia and the Pacific
could witness the explosion of HIV/AIDS from a marginal disease
to a regional pandemic, experts here warned July 2. "The
epidemic is concentrated among many vulnerable groups in the
region, those on the margins, yet the conditions are there for
it to easily cross into the mainstream," Anthony Lisle, head of
the South-East Asia division of the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said at the launch here of a new
UNAIDS report on HIV/AIDS. There are already traces of the
disease spreading in previously-spared rural areas, added Swarup
Sarkar, former head of the UNAIDS South Asia division. "It is
the case in Burma and parts of India. No area is immune."
Experts say there is a lamentable lack of political will or
resources dedicated to fighting AIDS by many governments in
Asia, the world's most populous region. For instance, many
governments have made public pledges to fight the disease, but
have not shown a sense of urgency in trans