A report by a UN official, warns the Asia-Pacific countries of the risk of a full-blown HIV epidemic among drug users. The report also states that such an epidemic can only be overcome by the government stepping in and doing more to keep the younger generation off drugs.
According to Prasada Rao, Asia-Pacific director of UNAIDS, the UN body fighting HIV/AIDS at least 70 per cent of HIV transmission in places such as Indonesia China, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam is contributed by injecting drug use or IDU.Rao also added that other countries too like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal ‘have a very severe IDU epidemic almost in the offing, about to break out in the open’.
The forum for the two-day UNAIDS meeting involved drug abuse and disease prevention authorities from more than 40 countries.
