15 – Asia: Health Meets Human Rights

This chapter describes several public-health and political measures that are needed to prevent an AIDS disaster in Asia. The patterns of HIV spread across Asia have differed in some important ways from those seen in Africa and the West. AIDS in Southeast Asia is a valuable lens for analyzing the epidemic throughout the region. For Thais, as throughout Asia, one of the most difficult aspects of the epidemic is to openly confront the commonality of sex outside marriage and of prostitution. India has serious and unresolved issues related to the safety of blood supplies and medical procedures. In 1998, WHO estimated that perhaps one-fifth of all of India's infections are because of improperly screened blood and blood products. There is an immediate need to make modern antiretroviral therapy (ART) and medical services available to all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic status and nationality. The stated goal of the Indian government is to eventually provide ART to all individuals with AIDS. The government has to work out agreements with the nation's pharmaceutical industry, expand health delivery systems for testing and treatment follow-up, and effectively integrate a huge influx of international assistance.