50 Million Women In Asia At Risk Of Hiv Infection

[LaoPo]

50 million women in Asia at risk of HIV infection: UNAIDS

Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:30am EDT

By Tan Ee Lyn

College students display HIV/AIDS awareness messages on their faces during a face painting competition in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh January 17, 2009.

BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Fifty million women in Asia are at risk of being infected with HIV because of the risky sexual behavior of their husbands or boyfriends, leading health experts said in a report on Tuesday.

More than 90 percent of the 1.7 million women now living with HIV in Asia became infected while being in monogamous, long-term relationships with men who engaged in risky sex behavior, the report launched by UNAIDS said.

These include men who had other sexual partners or who were drug users.

"We need to target men who engage in paid sex, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, who can transmit the virus to their partners," Jean D'Cunha, regional director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women in South Asia, told a news conference held on the margins of an HIV/AIDS conference in Bali.

"We need to question the attitudes, values and behavior and transform these so that women would be less vulnerable toHIV/AIDS."

While the issue of gender inequality is often ignored or laughed off, experts say it cannot be taken lightly in the context of HIV/AIDS, a disease that can be transmitted through sexual contact and which is incurable.

Sex workers, who have very little bargaining power to begin with, are usually forced to comply when their clients refuse to use condoms. Back home, the wives of these men too have no power to demand that condoms be used even if they know about the risky sexual behavior of their husbands.

While the fight against the AIDS epidemic has seen progress on some fronts, women continue to bear the brunt of it. Women make up 35 percent of all adult HIV infections in Asia now, up from 17 percent in 1990.

REVERSING A CULTURE

Maire Bopp-Allport, head of the Pacific Islands Aids Foundation, contracted the AIDS virus from her boyfriend around 1996. Today, she is a familiar figure in the global fight against the disease.

"At the heart of the issue is thousands of years of education to our males that it's okay to think that women are there to simply serve them and do everything they want. We need to bring a new culture where it's not okay," she told Reuters.

"They need to be able to think that the abuse of a woman is the abuse of their daughters when their daughters become women," she added.

-- Reuters 11 August 2009

LaoPo

[sanmiguellight]

Only read the headline but in the right circumstances women are just a promiscuous as men

Edited August 11, 2009 by sanmiguellight

[sunholidaysun1]

With the millions of HIV sufferers around the world and for many many years already , shouldnt people be dropping down dead everywhere ?

I dont believe everyone is taking medication ? Yet even today I only know of 1 person who is HIV Pos and dont know anyone who has died of it , only my experience and I am sure there are many who have died already and many people who have it but something tells me we are still not being told the truth about MANY things. Sorry for my ignorance in advance . What are your views ?

[LaoPo]

HIV infection: 50 mln Asian women at risk, UN warns

(AFP) – 10 hours ago

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — More than 1.5 million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by their partners and 50 million more are at risk of infection, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The "HIV Transmission in Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia" report by UNAIDS said the women at risk are either married or in long-term relationships with men who engage in "high-risk sexual behaviours."

"That is, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, the clients of sex workers," UNAIDS regional director Prasada Rao said.

"(It's) a problem of great magnitude that the countries have largely ignored (and) a challenge that we may no longer ignore," Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Women accounted for 35 percent of all adult HIV infections in Asia in 2008, up from 17 percent in 1990, according to the report.

In Cambodia, India and Thailand, the largest number of new HIV infections occur among married women and in Indonesia the virus is now spreading to long-term partners and sex workers, it added.

"The facts speak for themselves. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of the 1.7 million women living with HIV in Asia became infected (by) husbands and partners while in long-term relationships," Rao said.

"These women are often perceived as low risk... women who have not been adequately covered in our national responses."

UNIFEM regional director for South Asia Jean D'Cunha said a "culture of silence" surrounding the issue of sexuality exists among Asian women and this diminishes their ability to protect themselves.

"There are unequal relations within marriage and the taboo around sex and sexuality makes it difficult for the women to talk openly to their partners. Their partners may not disclose their status or may not know their status," she added.

"The women also fear violence if they talk about sexuality openly... or if they demand safe sex or pleasurable sex, they may be castigated as being too loose or too forward," D'Cunha said.

The UNAIDS report calls for more HIV/AIDS prevention efforts among men who have sex with men, removal of punitive laws preventing intravenous drug users from access to clean injecting equipment and greater interventions with sex workers and their clients, Rao said.

"We must re-double our efforts to avert needless infections among these women," he added.

The Bali congress, which runs until Thursday, covers topics ranging from HIV risks among transgenders and migrant workers to biomolecular advances in HIV treatment and the impact of the financial crisis on those with HIV/AIDS.

Source: AFP

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

HIV infection: 50m Asian women at risk, UN warns

Writer: AFP

Published: 11/08/2009 at 05:00 PM

More than 1.5 million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by their partners and 50 million more are at risk of infection, according to a report released on Tuesday.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/health/151...t-risk-un-warns

-- Bangkok Post 11 August 2009

LaoPo

[Brigante7]

Nice to see the topic of man-bashing has moved from the UK to other countries, can you imagine the outcry if the report was the other way around? What about all the woman who work in the sex industry and pass it on to their husbands/boyfriends/customers?

Brigante7.

[givenall]

Nice to see the topic of man-bashing has moved from the UK to other countries, can you imagine the outcry if the report was the other way around? What about all the woman who work in the sex industry and pass it on to their husbands/boyfriends/customers?

Brigante7.

I guess unfortuantly at the end they pay dearly for your mistake and does not matter is men or women bashing

[Sisaketmike]

50 million women in Asia at risk of HIV infection: UNAIDS

Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:30am EDT

By Tan Ee Lyn

College students display HIV/AIDS awareness messages on their faces during a face painting competition in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh January 17, 2009.

BALI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Fifty million women in Asia are at risk of being infected with HIV because of the risky sexual behavior of their husbands or boyfriends, leading health experts said in a report on Tuesday.

More than 90 percent of the 1.7 million women now living with HIV in Asia became infected while being in monogamous, long-term relationships with men who engaged in risky sex behavior, the report launched by UNAIDS said.

These include men who had other sexual partners or who were drug users.

"We need to target men who engage in paid sex, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, who can transmit the virus to their partners," Jean D'Cunha, regional director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women in South Asia, told a news conference held on the margins of an HIV/AIDS conference in Bali.

"We need to question the attitudes, values and behavior and transform these so that women would be less vulnerable toHIV/AIDS."

While the issue of gender inequality is often ignored or laughed off, experts say it cannot be taken lightly in the context of HIV/AIDS, a disease that can be transmitted through sexual contact and which is incurable.

Sex workers, who have very little bargaining power to begin with, are usually forced to comply when their clients refuse to use condoms. Back home, the wives of these men too have no power to demand that condoms be used even if they know about the risky sexual behavior of their husbands.

While the fight against the AIDS epidemic has seen progress on some fronts, women continue to bear the brunt of it. Women make up 35 percent of all adult HIV infections in Asia now, up from 17 percent in 1990.

REVERSING A CULTURE

Maire Bopp-Allport, head of the Pacific Islands Aids Foundation, contracted the AIDS virus from her boyfriend around 1996. Today, she is a familiar figure in the global fight against the disease.

"At the heart of the issue is thousands of years of education to our males that it's okay to think that women are there to simply serve them and do everything they want. We need to bring a new culture where it's not okay," she told Reuters.

"They need to be able to think that the abuse of a woman is the abuse of their daughters when their daughters become women," she added.

-- Reuters 11 August 2009

LaoPo

I settled down in Thailand about seven years ago and I'm teaching English for almost five years in the 'Isan'. A very sad thing is, that most of the Thai teachers are not educating them about diseases like Aids, TB and other deadly infections, or the use of condoms. Parents seem to have a huge problem to talk about sexuality at all. People from small villages never heard about Anti baby pills, in the age of 17, a lot of them are having two or more kids and not enough money to feed them properly. Of course, the 'producer' will leave her alone. A lot of them become bar girls, even some bad guys are driving around here and telling them they'd get a good paid job. I know from HIV positive men that they don't even go to see a specialist. We all live in one world, and why can't we all help together to bring our knowledge to those who need it? I'm trying my best.

[LaoPo]

I settled down in Thailand about seven years ago and I'm teaching English for almost five years in the 'Isan'. A very sad thing is, that most of the Thai teachers are not educating them about diseases like Aids, TB and other deadly infections, or the use of condoms. Parents seem to have a huge problem to talk about sexuality at all. People from small villages never heard about Anti baby pills, in the age of 17, a lot of them are having two or more kids and not enough money to feed them properly. Of course, the 'producer' will leave her alone. A lot of them become bar girls, even some bad guys are driving around here and telling them they'd get a good paid job. I know from HIV positive men that they don't even go to see a specialist. We all live in one world, and why can't we all help together to bring our knowledge to those who need it? I'm trying my best.

You probably didn't know how close you are to the truth and speaking about hitting the nail on the head:

Teens ‘are ignorant’ of safe sex to prevent HIV

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Half the world's teenagers admit to being dangerously ignorant about HIV risks – and many do not use condoms, a study shows.

One in three youngsters apparently do not believe using protection stops the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

The scale of the youth ignorance follows the revelation that half of the world's new HIV infections are among 15- to 24-year-olds.

Alarmed health campaigners have now called for urgent improvements to sex education from governments, parents and teachers.

The least knowledge seems to be in south-east Asia, where 57 per cent of youngsters admit knowing little about HIV or Aids.

In contrast, 74.3 per cent of young Africans believe themselves to be well-informed – despite sub-Saharan Africa having the world's highest Aids rate.

The research, involving 1,566 young people from 99 countries, was carried out by student organisation AIESEC International and Standard Chartered, which has an anti-Aids service.

A spokeswoman said: 'Myths, orthodoxy and a reluctance to learn basic facts are some of the biggest hurdles our HIV trainers face on a daily basis. This survey shows there is still a huge job to be done in educating the next generation.'

The results did not surprise sexual health charity Terence Higgins Trust.

Spokeswoman Lisa Power said: 'We know from our own research that young people in the UK want more information on sexual health.

'It's crucial parents, schools and the government all play their part.'

While 33.2million are living with HIV across the world, 102,333 people in Britain have been diagnosed – including 4,207 children and teenagers.

Some 10,391 20- to 24-year-olds have been infected, according to the Health Protection Agency.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?T...p;in_page_id=34

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

I settled down in Thailand about seven years ago and I'm teaching English for almost five years in the 'Isan'. A very sad thing is, that most of the Thai teachers are not educating them about diseases like Aids, TB and other deadly infections, or the use of condoms. Parents seem to have a huge problem to talk about sexuality at all. People from small villages never heard about Anti baby pills, in the age of 17, a lot of them are having two or more kids and not enough money to feed them properly. Of course, the 'producer' will leave her alone. A lot of them become bar girls, even some bad guys are driving around here and telling them they'd get a good paid job. I know from HIV positive men that they don't even go to see a specialist.

We all live in one world, and why can't we all help together to bring our knowledge to those who need it? I'm trying my best.

It's very sad to conclude that one of Thailand's most respected and well-known Gentlemen, Mr. Mechai Viravaidya, better know as Mr. Condom, didn't succeed (reading the article and your comment) in his mission to teach Thailand and it's youngsters about the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and HIV

Mr. Condom - Mechai Viravaidya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechai_Viravaidya

&

http://www.gluckman.com/Thailand%27s%20Mr%20Condom.html

LaoPo

[animatic]

Sadly I have known 7-8 who have died from HIV/AIDS.

The most famous being the fine actor Michael Jeter.

This happens because of unsafe sex practices.

Some didn't know about the scourge until it was too late,

and the meds were not up to the task then.

Most have no excuse now, but STILL do stupid things.

If the woman is poor and her man is an idiot, it's still a death sentence.

[CHAIYENYEN]

Nice to see the topic of man-bashing has moved from the UK to other countries, can you imagine the outcry if the report was the other way around? What about all the woman who work in the sex industry and pass it on to their husbands/boyfriends/customers?

Brigante7.

I guess unfortuantly at the end they pay dearly for your mistake and does not matter is men or women bashing

....the reasons for the sourge of aids in asia stems mainly from poverty and emptiness in the lives of these victims . in the search for love, most of these victims end up with equally if not poorer partners who are also looking for love and support - financially , in the latter cases. at the end of the day, when the scourge of aids remains unchecked and aid for aids research gets under sponsored and medication remains beyond the reach of the millions stricken with aids, it will swallow us all - with or without aids - up in one way or another. in the history of one country at war, prostitutes suffering from very low esteems were told to make the penultimate sacrifice of their love for their love ones and for their country by sacrificing their lives in honour of their country. what can be more redeeming for these people with their lost souls . imagine a world of such aids people ever ready to sacrifice the last days of their lives when promised a paradise to be found and regained? especially when they are brainwashed into believing that paradise awaits them? wouldn't a country with the most aids victims be at an advatage over the pristine ones? no one will tell you they have aids and no one will tell you exactly at what stage of aids they are in and when they are prepared to sacrifice their lives for their loved ones. but when their hearts and minds are won over and they believe they will wake up the next morning in paradise, god forbid we will all be meeting the four horsemen of the apolcalypse sooner than later. and why so, it is simply because we do not care for each other and think aids belong to those who are stupid and who must be left to die alone. all these happen also because we are all so smug and think without being in the aids circle, we are safe and so it is not our problem.

the lessons here?

beware of aids victim falling into the hands of evil ones who will use them as human shields or worst still , of aids victims who thinks - for the right price - they are prepared to die for their loved ones or their no matter what the moral codes may be - for after all, society does not care about them - not one even one hoot at all

beware of medical practitoners who use them as guinea pigs for trail-blazing purposes to discover new medical frontiers without the aids victims prior to the latter's consent to conduct tests on them

what does love mean in a world of anomie? aids victims are usually victims of anomie, the new curse of human society as globalisation gains pace. what does aids mean to you and me, even if we are not the victims of aids? think positive, and please , please , do not stigmatise aids victims

to come down with aids is punishment enough. to stigmatise aids victims is to caste them into hel_l long before they are due. would you like to be codemned to hel_l before your time?

think about it.

remember Mother Teresa and her message of love?

did she die from aids whilst caring for them - the victims of aids, amongst others?

think again. be against aids , not the victim of aids

has it not been said that "for the greatest is love", and else comes second?

Edited August 13, 2009 by CHAIYENYEN

[CHAIYENYEN]

I settled down in Thailand about seven years ago and I'm teaching English for almost five years in the 'Isan'. A very sad thing is, that most of the Thai teachers are not educating them about diseases like Aids, TB and other deadly infections, or the use of condoms. Parents seem to have a huge problem to talk about sexuality at all. People from small villages never heard about Anti baby pills, in the age of 17, a lot of them are having two or more kids and not enough money to feed them properly. Of course, the 'producer' will leave her alone. A lot of them become bar girls, even some bad guys are driving around here and telling them they'd get a good paid job. I know from HIV positive men that they don't even go to see a specialist.

We all live in one world, and why can't we all help together to bring our knowledge to those who need it? I'm trying my best.

It's very sad to conclude that one of Thailand's most respected and well-known Gentlemen, Mr. Mechai Viravaidya, better know as Mr. Condom, didn't succeed (reading the article and your comment) in his mission to teach Thailand and it's youngsters about the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and HIV

Mr. Condom - Mechai Viravaidya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechai_Viravaidya

&

http://www.gluckman.com/Thailand%27s%20Mr%20Condom.html

LaoPo

is the cause of dr.meechai lost? did he launch himself into a good cause like the doctor in "the elephant man" did and found himself caught in all kinds of problems not thoroughly researched? more importantly, is there anyone out there to carry the torch to the next level? i remember his campaigns were very very successful for a while. more importantly, what is going to happen now? anyone????

[LaoPo]

is the cause of dr.meechai lost? did he launch himself into a good cause like the doctor in "the elephant man" did and found himself caught in all kinds of problems not thoroughly researched? more importantly, is there anyone out there to carry the torch to the next level? i remember his campaigns were very very successful for a while. more importantly, what is going to happen now? anyone????

Dr. Mechai's name is a synonym in Thailand for condoms since the 1970's. We're talking some 35 years already. I met Mr. Mechai Viravaidya and he is a very special, kind, intelligent and charismatic Gentleman who's admired by millions in Thailand.

Nevertheless, the topic is about the danger of (married) women who's husbands or boyfriends have unprotected sex with others, get infected with sexual diseases, including AIDS and infect their spouses.

Those men, what Thailand is concerned, should have known and MUST have learned from Dr. Mechai that condoms are an absolute necessity whilst having outside-marriage sexual contacts; apart from the moral side which is not up to me to judge about.

Concluding: something must have gone wrong along the line with the cause and goals Dr. Mechai set for himself and the country so many years ago, unfortunately.

I must add though that in Thailand the percentage of youngsters not knowing about AIDS/HIV is probably lower than the mentioned 57% (in SE Asia) thanks to Mr. Mechai !

What is going to happen ?

THAT is the responsibility of the government and the ministries of education and health care, in combination with the teachers in all schools in Thailand.

It has been proved in the West that sexual education -towards their kids- by the parents is poor...very poor and better done via schools.

Most parents, especially if they're poor and uneducated, don't even know when and how to start, talking about sexual education.

LaoPo