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The Asia Pacific Epidemic

During 2006 an estimated 8.6 million people were living with HIV in Asia and approximately 630,000 people died from AIDS related illness. The ILO estimates that by 2010, there will be more Asians living with HIV than Africans, and approximately 846,900 people throughout out Asia will be unable to work due to AIDS related illness.

Apart from the enormous suffering inflicted, the pandemic is destroying development gains achieved over generations because it reinforces every problem that connects ill-health to poverty. Consequently, HIV/AIDS is a development crisis, and a major threat to social and economic development.

In the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is the country most heavily affected by HIV, where prevalence rates have reached more than 1% among women attending antenatal clinics in Port Moresby. AIDS is now the major cause of death at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

High levels of sexually transmitted infections, which indicate increased risk for HIV, have also been documented in Samoa, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and a number of other Pacific Island countries and territories. As has been the case in the Caribbean, even a small number of infections can have a dramatic impact on small island populations.

Source: ILO Press release: Issues first global analysis of HIV/AIDS impact on the world of work Estimates 36.5 million working age persons now have HIV, 28 million lost to world labour force by 2005 . ILO: Programme on HIV/AIDS and work: global estimates, impact on children and youth and response 2006

Source: Pacific Regional Meeting on the Role of Parliamentarians in the Fight Against, HIV/AIDS in the Pacific Region , Keynote address By Dr. Nafis Sadik, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Suva, Fiji October 2004 UNAIDS: AIDS epidemic update, Dec 2006.

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