SJPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

Some people think that there are several hundred thou-
sand people with the virus. Others think that the number
may be up toa million. Besides affecting the formulation
of plans and the measurement of the effectiveness of the
AIDS control program, these different estimates have led
to misunderstandings among people in the public and
private sectors. Those in the private sector think that the
Ministry of Public Health is concealing the real figures,
and people in the Ministry of Public Health feel that
those in the private sector are greatly inflating the
figures.

The AIDS problem is too great to waste time arguing
about numbers like this. It is essential that all groups join
forces in order to fight this disease. The various units
concerned, that is, the Epidemiology Division, the AIDS
Division, the Venereal Disease Division, and private
organizations, have joined together to collect data from
various sources and held several conferences to discuss
this matter. They have finally come up with a figure that
satisfies all sides and that is probably close to the actual
number of people with AIDS. This number was com-
puted based on various data as follows:

The people at risk of contracting AIDS were divided into
five groups:

1. IV drug users: The number in this group was estimated
based on the number of people who have come to clinics
operated by the Ministry of Public Health and Bangkok.
That number is 49,550-99,700 people.

2. Prostitutes: This group was divided into two sub-
groups: Prostitutes who work openly as prostitutes in
brothels, tea houses, and hotels and prostitutes who
engage in prostitution secretly. This second group
includes people who work elsewhere as a cover such as
massage parlors, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and so on
but who also earn money as prostitutes. These data were
obtained from surveys conducted by the Venereal Dis-
ease Division, which estimates that there are about
41,665-58,331 direct prostitutes and 66,452-93,033
“secret”. prostitutes (these figures come from actual
surveys, with the figures increased by 25 percent to
account for those missed).

3. Men who use the services of both “direct” and
“secret” prostitutes, 4.6-5 million. (This is for men
between the ages of 15 and 45. One study showed that
approximately 33 percent used the services of a prosti-
tute.)

4, Wives of men who use the services of prostitutes, 3.6-4
million. (This figure is based on the figure for Group 3.
It was figured that 80 percent of those in Group 3 had
families.)

Wives of IV drug users, 14,865-33,030. (This was calcu-
lated based on the estimate that 33 percent of the drug
users were married.)

5. Infants born to a mother with AIDS, 3,000-6,000.

EAST ASIA 15

The incidence of AIDS among these five groups is
different. Based on the results of the sentinel surveil-
lance, the figures computed for the five groups are as
follows:

IV drug users with the AIDS virus, 22-45 percent for a
total of 16-32,000 people.

Direct prostitutes with the AIDS virus, 6-20 percent for
a total of 5,200-7,200 people.

Secret prostitutes, 1-8 percent for a total of 3,300-4,600
people.

Men who use the services of prostitutes, 1-4 percent for
a total of 92-184,000 people.

Wives of men who frequent prostitutes, 0.3-0.5 percent
for a total of 10,800-12,000 people.

Wives of IV drug users, 5-20 percent for a total of
1,500-3,000 people.

Infants who have contracted the disease from their
mothers, 30 percent for a total of 1,000-2,000 people.

Based on these figures, the total number of people with
the AIDS virus is approximately 129,800-244,800
people, with the average being 187,000.

That was the figure as of December 1990. By March
1991, the average number had probably increased to
approximately 200,000.

These figures were calculated based on data that are not
that reliable. In particular, there is still much disagree-
ment about the accuracy of the figures for IV drug users
and prostitutes. However, two other methods used to
calculate these numbers give approximately the same
results. Those two methods are: calculating the number
based on the incidence of AIDS among pregnant women
and blood donors, with the assumption being that these
two groups represent the population in general, and
calculating the number based on the incidence of AIDS
among men recruited into the military.

Thus, it can be assumed that as of March 1991, approx-
imately 200,000 Thais had the AIDS virus.

Chiang Rai AIDS Survey, Public Education
Efforts

91WE0363F Bangkok DAO SIAM in Thai 13 Apr 91
pp 15, 11

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] Dr. Uthai Sutsuk, the
undersecretary of public health, said that reports on the
AIDS situation in Thailand have stated that Chiang Rai
Province is one of 10 provinces with the highest inci-
dence of AIDS in the country. [passage omitted]

According to an AIDS report issued by the Chiang Mai
provincial Public Health Office, there are 1,431 prosti-
tutes who work at 186 brothels. Of these, approximately
40 percent do not have an education. The highest grade



32 WEST EUROPE

AIDS in Numbers (data received by the European Center
for Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS, relating to the
situation in Portugal as of 31 December 1990)

(Continued)
December 1990 $73
Total deaths 31 Dec 90 285
Cases by type of contagion
Bisexuals 263
Heterosexuals 156
Drug addicts 66
Bisexuals—drug addicts 1
Hemophiliacs 24
Blood transfusions 27
Mother-child transmission 5
Unknown 25
Total $73
Children under age 13 10

SWEDEN

Immigrants Seen Main Factor in HIV Spread

Physician: Redirect Resources

91WE0456A Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 17 Jun 91 p 4

[Guest commentary by Sten Iwarson: “HIV-Infection
Often Brought From Abroad”—first paragraph is
DAGENS NYHETER introduction]

[Text] Professor Sten Iwarson, chief physician at the
infection clinic at the Ostra Hospital in Goteborg, writes:
“Redirect the AIDS policy. Aim resources at refugees
and immigrants. Of all those reported HIV positive
during 1990, 55 percent were foreigners. It is mainly a
question of people from exposed areas in Central Africa.
Swedish travelers are also living dangerously. More than
half of the heterosexually infected persons indicate that
they were infected abroad.”

The development of AIDS in Sweden differs markedly
from that in many other countries. So far about 2,800
HIV infected persons have been reported in Sweden,
which is a considerably less rapid development than was
feared only a few years ago. Even though the spread of
HIV seems to be under relative control in Sweden, there
are currently some sectors where the problem is
increasing in scope. It concerns the refugees seeking
asylum and those who travel abroad.

During 1990, 344 HIV infected individuals were
reported in Sweden, according to statistics from the State
Bacteriological Laboratory [SBL]. 191 of these infected
persons (55 percent) were of foreign extraction, prima-
rily from so-called highly endemic countries in Central
Africa, but also from other European countries, from the
United States and from South-East Asia.

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

Among the 12-14 Swedes reported as new HIV cases
each month during 1990, an average of just below 50
percent comes from the homosexual and bisexual (HS/
BS) group of men, while about one-fourth (3-4 per
month) indicate heterosexual infection. Of the latter, at
least half were infected abroad. A considerable part of
the Swedish HS/BS-men also report having been infected
abroad.

The fact that the heterosexual path of infection currently
occupies a leading position in the Swedish HIV statistics
is mainly due to HIV positive individuals of foreign
extraction indicating this as the most likely. Heterosex-
ually infected Swedes increased only marginally in
number during 1990, or from 40 new cases in 1989 to 44
during 1990. What is alarming, however, is that the
majority of them were infected through sexual contacts
abroad. :

Swedish intravenous drug users represented one-fifth of
the new cases during 1990 or an average of 2-3 cases per
month. The tendency the past couple of years has been
towards a reduction from around 75 reported HIV
infected intravenous drug users during 1987 to only
some 30 new cases during 1990.

Among Swedish HS/BS men the reduction in new cases
is also clear, or from about 150 during 1987 down to
about 70 during 1990. The spread of the infection within
both these risk groups is still considerable even today.
The sexual spread of HIV from these groups into the
general Swedish population seems to be relatively lim-
ited, however. The time bomb so many mentioned has
not exploded, at least not yet. HIV-infected HS/BS men
and intravenous drug users seem on the whole to consti-
tute an infection risk only within their own groups.

It seems that in Sweden too much emphasis on
exchanging needles has prevented a less rigid discussion
about various methods for preventing the spread of HIV
among drug users. An assessment of the current needle-
exchange projects in western Skane has given rise to
quite a few questions. In a comparison between Malmo
and Goteborg, you find, for instance, that the number of
intravenous drug users in Goteborg decreased during the
1980’s, while in Malmo this group seems to remain just
as large today as it was ten years ago. In Malmo, where
there is a needle-exchange program, eleven HIV-infected
drug users have been reported so far, while only two
HIV-infected drug users were reported in Goteborg
during the same period, despite the lack of a needle-
exchange program.

Since we do not know how great the number of intrave-
nous drug users or HIV-infected persons would be in
western Skane without the needle-exchange program,
one can only speculate on the effect of these programs. In
my opinion, however, a direct comparison between
western Skane and Goteborg does not provide any strong
arguments for needle-exchange as an infection preventa-

tive.

The small number of new cases among drug users in our
country during 1990, is in sharp contrast to the great
number of HIV-infected intravenous drug users in many



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

Refusal by other members of staff to work with an HIV
infected person could require disciplinary measures, and
health insurance and group life cover should not be
withheld from such individuals, Prof. Sher maintained.

“Fundamental rights for infected workers should be not
be affected and HIV should not be used as a reason to
release an employee,” he said.

He did not agree with the doomsday predictions that the
South African economy would be seriously affected by
AIDS. “We will survive AIDS”, Prof. Sher declared.

SWAZILAND

Ten AIDS Cases Reported April - June

MB3107171891 Mbabane Radio Swaziland Network
in English 1600 GMT 31 Jul 91

[Text] A total of 10 AIDS cases were reported between
April and June this year. All in tha Manzini region.

Accroding to a statement by the director of medical
services Mr. John Mbambo, seven of the AIDS victims
were males and three females. Four of them have died
already and six are still alive. This brings to 45 the
number of AIDS cases since 1987 when the National
AIDS Prevention and Control program began.

A total of 1,298 blood samples were tested.
ZAMBIA

Health Ministry Confirms 4,690 AIDS Cases

MBO0607145491 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1422 GMT 6 Jul 91

[Text] Lusaka July 6 SAPA—Zambia has over 4,690
cases of AIDS, the Ministry of Health here has con-
firmed and 1,000 people have died of AIDS since the
disease was officially acknowledged.

The figure, which is as of May 31 this year, was in an
AIDS surveillance report released here on Saturday and
has caused great concern among health authorities.

The Zimbabwe national news organisation ZIANA
reports that the chairman of the National Surveillance

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 9

Committee, Dr. Benson Humonga said those affected
were between the ages of 15 and 39.

“This group was most affected because it was the most
active sexually.

“The only way to control the spread of the disease is to
change the behaviour because if people did not, the
disease would be prevalent forever,” Dr. Himonga said.

The Ministry of Health has drafted an HIV policy which
will be submitted to Parliament so that the sufferers and
those who were HIV positive and had AIDS could be
protected, he said.

ZIMBABWE

Official on Tuberculosis Program, AIDS

MB2007053691 Johannesburg SAPA in English
2351 GMT 19 Jul 91

[Text] Harare July 19 SAPA—Up to 45 percent of
tuberculosis patients tested by the Harare City Health
Department in a specific study were HIV positive, the
head of the city’s TB Control Department, Dr. Edwin
Mhazo, said on Friday. Zimbabwe’s ZIANA national
news agency quoted Dr. Mhazo as telling a seminar in
Harare that it was not ethical for medical practitioners to
test all TB patients for HIV/AIDS, though AIDS victims
react to thiacetazone (HT3), one of the drugs used in the
treatment of tuberculosis.

“We advise practitioners to avoid using HT3 in the
treatment of tuberculosis patients, if they suspected
them to be HIV positive as they react badly to the drug,”
Dr. Mhazo said. Outlining Zimbabwe’s TB control pro-
gramme, he said from 1962 to 1986, there was a down-
ward trend in TB cases, with yearly averages of 4,000,
but this had soared to 9,132 in 1990. He said figures did
not reflect all the TB cases in the country as the pro-
gramme did not reach the entire population. Of the
9,132 cases of TB patients in 1990, 856 died during or
after treatment, Dr. Mhazo said.

The TB programme adopted a policy of giving BCG, a
drug to make children immune to TB, at birth or soon
after. TB in most patients was caused by malnutrition,
poverty and poor hygiene, but the deterioration of the
immune system in AIDS patients made it easy for the TB
bacteria to attack them, he pointed out.



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

The number of infected people in Chiang Mai, mean-
while, has increased by some 70 percent this year, the
Province’s chief officer for public health said yesterday.

Dr. Anan Lapsomthop said more than 5,000 people in
the northern province have been infected with AIDS as
of July 10, compared with 3,262 at the end of last year.

Anan said AIDS has been spreading from prostitutes to
heterosexual men, who later transmitted the disease to
their wives and finally to their babies.

“The situation is worrisome among farmers and other
low-income people, let alone the Prostitutes, because
there is virtually no way to help them,” he said.

Prostitutes found to have been infected would be sent
back to their hometowns but instructed to give up the
tisky career, Anan said.

“But they will return to work again because of their
Poverty and the high demand for their services,” he said.

|

EAST ASIA 19

VIETNAM

VNA Reports Continued Efforts Against AIDS
Threat

BK0808075391 Hanoi VNA in English 0545 GMT
8 Aug 91

[Text] Hanoi VNA August 8—Except for one young
woman in Ho Chi Minh City found positive to HIV test
early this year, none of the 65,117 blood samples taken
of high-risk groups in Vietnam proves HIV seropositive.

Nevertheless, many branches and cities are continuing to
intensity joint efforts in the fight against that deadly
disease. According to the Vietnam Anti-AIDS Com-
mittee, refrersher courses on AIDS have been held and
consultative rooms founded in many localities of the
country.



IPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991 4 AIDS

IRAN
Statistics on AIDS, Hemophilia /Tehran IRNA, 28 Jul 91] .....
PAKISTAN
AIDS Cases Said Increasing /Lahore NAEA-I-WAQT, 14 Apr 91]
SRI LANKA
Five-Year Plan Launched To Combat AIDS {Colombo LANKAPUVATH, 10 Jul 91] ........
SOVIET UNION

Leningrad—40 Cases of AIDS [Moscow INTERFAX, | Aug 91]
AIDS ‘Spreading Fast’ in Large Cities {Moscow Radio Moscow World Service, 10 Aug 91]

WEST EUROPE
IRELAND
Health Department Gives AIDS Statistics /Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT, 31 May 91] .......
NORWAY

. 31

Statistics on Sexually Transmitted Diseases
[Ole Martin Bjorklid; Oslo AFTENPOSTEN, 10 Jul 91] ....

PORTUGAL
December 1990 AIDS Statistics /Lisbon SABADO 14-20, Jun 91] ....
SWEDEN

. 31

. 31

Immigrants Seen Main Factor in HIV Spread ....
Physician: Redirect Resources

[Sten Iwarson; Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 17 Jun 91]

Free Testing Offered /Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 25 May 91]

UNITED KINGDOM

Secret AIDS Watch on Visitors to UK
[Victoria Macdonald, Valerie Elliott; London THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 7 Jun 91]



30 SOVIET UNION

Leningrad—40 Cases of AIDS

0W0208045291 Moscow INTERFAX in English
1710 GMT 1 Aug 91

[Following item transmitted via KYODO]

[Text] A report by the Leningrad epidemiological station
says 40 cases of AIDS has been registered in the city: 31
persons are carriers of the virus, 6 have developed the
disease and 3 have died.

Of all foreigners living in Leningrad the highest per-
centage of those having AIDS is among African students.

The Leningrad Epidemiological Station recently sent 24
of them out of the country. The report also says that
many foreign students and probationers refuse to test for
AIDS in time.

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

AIDS ‘Spreading Fast’ in Large Cities
LD1008161591 Moscow Radio Moscow World Service
in English 1200 GMT 10 Aug 91

[Text] The Moscow-based daily SOVETSKAYA
ROSSTYA says the threat of AIDS in the Soviet Union is
taking clearer outlines. It put the number of VIH [as
heard] carriers at more than 1,200, half of them Soviet
nationals, with the latest AIDS case being registered in
the central Russian city of Penza.

The disease is said to be spreading fast in large cities such
as Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev, and official counts put
the number of AIDS cases among children at 288, most
of them infected while in hospital.



16 EAST ASIA

completed by any of the prostitutes is grade six. Most of
these entered this profession voluntarily, because they
can earn more than in other occupations. They earn a
minimum of 5,000 baht a month and a maximum of
more than 10,000 baht.

The undersecretary of public health said that the spread
of AIDS is the leading public health problem in Chiang
Rai Province. There are 3,429 people with the virus, of
whom 2,115 were examined in the province and 1,314
were examined outside the province. The three profes-
sions with the largest number of cases were prostitutes,
1,842 cases, of whom 727 were discovered within the
province and 1,115 were discovered outside the province
and sent back home; farmers, 599 cases, of whom 584
were found in the province; and general laborers, 362
cases, of whom 308 were found in the province. The
number of farmers and laborers with the AIDS virus is
increasing, with prostitutes serving as vehicles for
spreading the virus. Youths and men of working age visit
prostitutes and do not use condoms. These men contract
the AIDS virus and then spread the virus to their wives
and unborn children.

Public health officials in Chiang Rai Province are trying
to control AIDS by carrying on public relations activities
and providing information to those who are at greatest
risk, such as prostitutes, and to those who can help
reduce this problem, that is, students, housewives, and
soldiers. Officials are stressing the use of condoms by
prostitutes. The results show that prostitutes, with the
exception of Shan and Burmese prostitutes, are aware of
the AIDS problem. Every brothel is cooperating well in
controlling AIDS. They have obtained condoms from
public health offices for use by customers. But it has been
found that only 30 percent of the men who visit the
brothels use condoms. It is mainly the farmers and
general laborers who refuse to use a condom.

In conclusion, the undersecretary of public health said
after inspecting public health clinics and brothels in
Chiang Rai Province, the deputy minister of public
health expressed satisfaction concerning the steps taken
by officials to control AIDS, because public health
officials have done an excellent job. But to control the
spread of AIDS, many other important factors must be
relied on, particularly economic factors and the values of
the local people. The deputy minister of public health
has ordered officials to educate men who visit places of
entertainment so that they realize the importance of
using a condom to prevent contracting AIDS from a
prostitute. If the values of these men can be changed and,
in particularly, if the values of the local people can be
changed so that their children and grandchildren do not
work as prostitutes, it should be possible to lower the
incidence of AIDS in Chiang Rai Province. At present,
approximately 100-200 people a month are contracting
this disease.

IPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

Epidemiology Chief Wants AIDS Notices Posted
91WE0363E Bangkok SIAM RAT in Thai 13 Apr 91
pl4

[Excerpt] A doctor pointed out another way to control
AIDS. The Ministry of Public Health wants to coordi-
nate things with the Ministry of Interior in taking blood
samples. It wants to check all prostitutes for AIDS,
including those who work at brothels, “tea houses,”
massage parlors, and certain restaurants. After that, each
month, it will post public notices on the number of
prostitutes who have the AIDS virus at each place in
order to warn customers.

Dr. Thai Chitanon, the head of the National Epidemi-
ology Board and the person who expressed these views,
said that this will make those men who are thinking
about visiting such places for the first time and those
who regularly visit such places stop and think about the
danger posed by AIDS. Many of these people may not
dare take the risk of using the services of prostitutes, and
more and more people may stop visiting such places.

Dr. Thai said that there is now a serious epidemic of
AIDS among prostitutes. As an example, he cited the
prostitutes who work at the Sinchai tea house, which is
located in the Wong Wian Yai area in Bangkok. Police
officials staged a raid and filed charges on 8 April. They
arrested a total of 19 of the approximately 100 people
there. Of these, doctors found that 17 have the AIDS
virus, and 18 have gonorrhea. And four are infected with
syphilis. [passage omitted]

Doctor Views Phayao AIDS Situation,
Countermeasures

91WE0363D Bangkok SIAM RAT in Thai 19 Apr 91
pil

[Excerpts] Dr. Prayong Temchawala, the Phayao provin-
cial public health officer, said that Phayao Province is
one of 10 provinces with the highest incidence of AIDS
in the country. AIDS is spreading rapidly here. This is
having both economic and social effects. Statistics show
that there are now 591 cases of AIDS in Phayao Prov-
ince, although none of these people have a full-blown
case of AIDS. Seven of these people have AIDS-related
symptoms, and 584 do not have any symptoms. The
trend is for more and more people to contract the AIDS
virus, because of the people who have the AIDS virus,
196, or 34 percent, are prostitutes.

Phayao Province is looking for ways to control AIDS. It
has stepped up the dissemination of information and
knowledge about AIDS. Efforts will be focused on pro-
viding information to prostitutes and others at risk of
contracting and spreading the disease so that they change
their behavior. This should help control the spread of
this disease. In December 1990, the Phayao provincial
Public Health Office held a seminar for the owners and
managers of the 74 brothels in the province in order to
provide them with information on this disease and on
measures that they can take to control AIDS in their



JPRS-TEP-91-018

22 LATIN AMERICA 27 August 1991
and 10 children had AIDS; in 1986, 41 adults and nine
ANTIQUA AND BARBUDA children had the disease; in 1988, there were 77 adults

Reported AIDS Cases Not ‘True Reflection’ of
Disease

FL1007013191 Bridgetown CANA in English
1937 GMT 9 Jul 91

[Text] St. John’s, Antigua, July 9, CANA—Antigua and
Barbuda has 60 reported cases of the dreaded Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), but the figure
could be higher if more people come forward for volun-
tary testing, says Dr. Prince Ramsey, an AIDS educator.

Speaking Monday night on the television programme
“Feedback,” Ramsey, a medical practitioner, said the
number of reported cases is not a true reflection of the
AIDS disease in Antigua. He said there is a rapid
increase of the disease in Antigua and Barbuda, and it
has affected two children below the age of two years.

“Only when people hear things on BBC and CNN they
become concerned,” he said in relation to the general
attitude of people to information on AIDS.

Also appearing on the programme was Trinidadian God-
frey Sealey, an HIV victim, who related his experiences
to viewers. He stressed the importance of AIDS educa-
tion and the need for people to be more aware of the
dangers of the disease.

BAHAMAS

Over 300 AIDS Deaths Recorded Since 1985

FL2207201791 Bridgetown CANA in English
1835 GMT 22 Jul 91

[Text] Nassau, Bahamas, July 22, CANA—More than
half of the 659 persons diagnosed with AIDS in the
Bahamas between August 1985 and March 1991, have
died, the Ministry of Health said Monday. Giving a
statistical update on the fatal disease here, the ministry
also disclosed that 579 of the 659 cases were adults and
the remaining 80 were children. During the same six-
year period, added the ministry, 2,012 persons were
tested positive for the HIV virus which causes AIDS.

The ministry said that from August to December 1985,
there were 36 cases of AIDS; in 1986, there were 50; in
1987, 90; in 1988, 93; in 1989, 168; in 1990, 162; and
from January to March, 1991, there were 60 cases, for a
total of 659.

A total of 363 persons died: 16 from August to
December, 1985; 23 in 1986, 44 in 1987, 47 in 1988, 99
in 1989, 103 in 1990 and 31 from January to March,
1991, Between August and December 1985, 20 persons
were tested HIV-positive or diagnosed as healthy car-
riers. Eighty- five persons were in this category in 1986,
255 in 1987, 419 in 1988, 568 in 1989, 519 in 1990, and
146 from January to March, 1991.

Giving a breakdown of the 659 AIDS cases, the Health
Ministry said from August to December, 1985, 26 adults

and 16 children; in 1989, there were 156 adults and 12
children; in 1990, there were 149 adults and 13 children;
and from January to March 1991, there were 57 adults
and three children with the disease.

The first case of AIDS here was identified in August
1985. AIDS attacks and destroys the body’s immune
system, thus rendering the sufferer incapable of fighting
off disease.

The Health Ministry said all blood, before accepted for
transfusion here, was tested for the presence of the HIV
virus. Persons who wish to have their blood tested, can
do so at a fee ranging from U.S. 30 dollars to 60 dollars.

Ratio of AIDS-Infected Men to Women Almost
Equal

FLO108173091 Bridgetown CANA in English

1601 GMT I Aug 91

{Text] Nassau, Bahamas, Aug 1, CANA—The Bahamas
Government has opened a ward for children with the
deadly Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),
at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau. So far this
year, there have been 121 cases of AIDS recorded in the
Bahamas, compared to 162 in 1990, and 168 in 1989.
The number of men and women affected by AIDS in the
Bahamas is nearly equal.

Health Minister Charles Carter said that because of the
large number of women affected by AIDS, it is not
surprising that an increased number of children will
develop the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV)
infection that causes AIDS and the full-blown disease.
“It is hard for ordinary people to appreciate the moral
dilemma of seeing children die, seeing children infected
from birth with a disease that will shorten their life, limit
potential, and make them, quite frankly, terminal in the
next few years,” said Carter.

Fora long time, most people ignored the spectre of AIDS
in the Bahamas and worldwide, he said. He said AIDS
has been the invisible killer in the Bahamas as it has been
worldwide. AIDS is no longer invisible in the Bahamas,
and the opening of the nine-bed ward for childen is a sign
that the country has decided to deal with a problem it
knows is real, he said.

BERMUDA

Since 1981—145 AIDS Deaths; 177 Cases
Diagnosed

FL1907230391 Bridgetown CANA in English
1920 GMT 19 Jul 91

[Text] Hamilton, Bermuda, July 19, CANA—Four
people died here from AIDS in May, latest government
figures show, bringing the number of deaths from the
killer disease in Bermuda to 145.



18 EAST ASIA

In Udon Thani, the provincial public health office has
opened a Night VD Clinic which operates from 5.00
p.m. to 9.00 p.m. to provide services for those who
cannot visit in the daytime.

The Night VD Clinic which provides medical care and
consultations on venereal diseases and AIDS control
receives between 20 to 30 clients each day, according to
provincial health chief Amphon Chindawatthana.

Dr. Amphon said 502 people had tested HIV positive in
this northeastern province.

In Trang, 220 people have been found to be HIV
positive. Among them, 103 were drug addicts, 45 were
prostitutes and the remainder included clients of prosti-
tutes, etc.

Provincial health chief Narong Chayakun said 150
workers and 100 farmers in this southern province had
been educated about the deadly disease.

Official—Over 32,000 AIDS Carriers in Country

BK3007013991 Bangkok THE NATION in English
30 Jul 91 p A2

[Text] The Public Health Ministry plans to open at least
one of its own AIDS testing clinics in each of the
country’s four regions to provide free testing and to
gather information which will be kept in strict confi-
dence, a senior health official said.

Dr. Thira Ramasut, director general of the Communi-
cable Diseases Department, said yesterday members of
the public would not be required to register their names
when they go to such clinics to have their blood tested.

“Those who come to have their blood checked at these
clinics will be given personal codes which they will be
asked to produce when they inquire after the results,”
Thira said.

The director general said the proposal would be pre-
sented to a national committee on AIDS soon.

The guarantee of anonymity in AIDS testing is designed
to persuade more people, particularly those in the high-
risk groups like drug abusers, prostitutes and homo-
sexual men, to undergo blood tests, he said.

On the AIDS situation in Thailand, Thira said that
although the first AIDS cases discovered in this country
seven years ago were homosexual men, the deadly virus
is now spreading fast among prostitutes and heterosexual
drug users.

“Contrary to what most people believe, less than one
percent of those found to have been infected with AIDS
so far are homosexual men,” the director general said.

He said the latest number of officially confirmed AIDS
carriers in the country was 32,417. Of these, only 280, or
about 0.6 percent, are homosexual men.

SJPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

Thira said the rate of AIDS infection among the Thai
population had increased during the past several months
because of a shortage of free condoms given out by the
Public Health Ministry to entertainment places and
brothels throughout the country.

Health Ministry Says 247,000 May Have AIDS
Virus

BK0308022791 Bangkok THE NATION in English

3 Aug 91 p A4

{Text] As many as 247,000 Thais may be carrying the
AIDS virus, though the number of detected AIDS car-
riers was just slightly over 30,000, an official report
released yesterday said.

Thai estimate by the Public Health Ministry’s Epidemi-
ology Division, apparently endorses a gloomy prediction
by the Population and Community Development Asso-
ciation (PDA). ‘

The PDA, in the prediction previously decried by offi-
cials as exaggerated, said at least two million Thais
would be infected by the AIDS virus by the year 200
unless the current spread of the killer disease was dras-
tically slowed down.

The division said the real number of infected people now
is estimated between 134,500 and 247,000 because most
potential carriers have not had their blood tested.

AIDS is invading the heterosexual community at an
alarming pace, according to the division’s statistics on
detected carriers, who as of July 15 numbered 31,928.

Drug addicts still topped the list of carriers, with a total
16,911 infected. But the number of infected heterosexual
men and women have noticeably climbed to 4,792 and
6,956 respectively, altogether making up 36 percent of
the overall carriers.

AIDS carriers are those who have tested positive for the
AIDS virus (HIV) but do not show any symptoms. The
virus destroys the body’s immune system, making the
victim susceptible to various fatal opportunistic infec-
tions.

All carriers can infect others through sexual intercourse,
AIDS virus-contaminated needles and blood transfu-
sions. The virus also can be transmitted from pregnant
women to their unborn babies.

Ninety-four newborn babies have been found infected
this year, compared with only three in 1988, 36 in 1989
and 216 last year.

Seventy-eight of the total 125 people reported to have
developed full-blown AIDS have died.

The number of people suffering from AIDS-related com-
plex recorded until July 15 was 364. Thirty-eight have
died.



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

IRELAND

Health Department Gives AIDS Statistics

91WE0435A Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT
in English 31 May 91 p 3

[Article: “AIDS Death Toll 83”]

[Text] Deaths from AIDS have reached 83 and there are
203 cases of full blown AIDS here, according to the latest
figures from the Department of Health.

Six babies born to mothers who were intravenous drug
addicts have died and 10 haemophilliacs have also died
from the condition.

The death toll also includes five heterosexuals, 29 homo-
sexuals/bisexuals and 23 intravenous drugs users,
according to the IRISH MEDICAL TIMES.

NORWAY

Statistics on Sexually Transmitted Diseases

91WE0469A Oslo AFTENPOSTEN in Norwegian
10 Jul 91 p 30

{Article by Ole Martin Bjorklid: “Finnmark Has Most
Sexual Diseases”—first paragraph is AFTENPOSTEN
introduction]

[Text] Chlamydia continues to be the sexually trans-
mitted disease that tops the statistics. There is nothing to
indicate that fewer people are being infected this year
than last.

The number of cases of gonorrhea is on the decline, but
just as many are being infected by herpes this year as in
1990.

Last year, 12,094 cases of chlamydia were registered.
The first six months this year the number was 5,738. The
highest number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990
was in Finnmark, 1,300. There were 390 cases in Oslo.
The average for the country stood at 290 per 100,000
inhabitants last year and the number so far this year is
140, a new survey by the infection preventive medicine
section of the National Institute of Public Health shows.

Finnmark continues to top the statistics for the number
of sexual diseases per inhabitant. There are almost four
times as many cases there as in the rest of the country.

Both men and women can become infected by chlamy-
dia, but in Norway most cases are registered among
women. The authorities nevertheless calculate that just
as many men are infected by the disease. Most cases are
found in the 20-24 year old age group; those between 15
and 20 years stand in second place. Chlamydia can
develop into an inflammation of the fallopian tubes and
lead to sterility. How many women have become sterile
because of the disease is not known.

WEST EUROPE 31

“We recommend in the strongest way that all who have
had unprotected sex with unknown partners be exam-
ined by a physician. The problem with chlamydia is that
one does not notice when one is infected. Therefore,
there are many who spread the disease without being
aware of it,” says section leader Preben Aavitsland.

“Neither physicians nor patients are clever enough to
actively track the disease down. We managed to stop the
spread of gonorrhea in this way. Therefore we also ought
to manage it with chlamydia,” says Aavitsland.

Herpes Stable

The number of cases of herpes has held stable since 1983.
Then, 2,298 cases were registered. So far this year, 1011
cases have been reported. Preben Aavitsland thinks one
of the reasons that the number is not going down is due
to the fact that the reporting system works too poorly.

“Because herpes breaks out repeatedly, there are many
physicians who report the same case over again,” says
Aavitsland, who thinks the real figure is lower.

Widespread in Oslo

Oslo has almost three times as many cases as the coun-
try’s average per 100,000 inhabitants. Last year, this
stood at 51, but for those concerned in Oslo there were
130 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Gonorrhea cases have declined since 1975. Then, 14,170
cases were registered, which was the record. Not since
1946 have so many been found. Last year, 944 cases of
gonorrhea were reported. The first six months this year,
362 cases were charted and the estimate is that the
number this year will be closer to 700.

At the end of June, 1,042 persons with HIV infection
were registered. Of these, 216 have developed AIDS and
141 are dead. According to the National Institute of
Public Health, between 500 and 1,000 HIV-positive
cases have not been detected and registered.

PORTUGAL

December 1990 AIDS Statistics

91WE0431A Lisbon SABADO in Portuguese
14-20 Jun 91 p 26

[Text]

AIDS in Numbers (data received by the European Center
for Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS, relating to the
situation in Portugal as of 31 December 1990)

Cases Reported

December 1989 348
March 1990 410
June 1990 455
September 1990 481



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

But Dr. Patrick Li, head of the Government’s AIDS.
counselling service, claimed yesterday the figures did not
reflect the true picture in Hong Kong.

Dr. Li believes there are between 3,000 and 5,000 HIV
infected (carriers without the full-blown disease) cases in
Hong Kong, which means the number of AIDS sufferers
is likely to be about 2,000 in nine years.

Last month three more people, including two haemophil-
iacs, died from AIDS, bringing the number of people
who have died from the disease in Hong Kong to 36.

One new HIV infection case was also identified last
month.

In the United States, AIDS ranks fifth as a cause of years
of life lost before the age of 65.

Although there was no cause for alarm in Hong Kong
right now, Dr. Li said that, statistically, the spread of
AIDS in the territory was following the trends of other
developed countries.

Dr. Li said the Government had decided to step up AIDS
prevention publicity in work places in the coming year.

The Government would also continue to target the 21 to
30 year old age group, from which 36 percent of all HIV
infected cases came, for special education programmes.
A fourth AIDS carrier has been identified in Macau.
The director of the Macau Health Services Department,
Dr. Jose Castel-Branco, said yesterday the latest case was
a Thai national living in the enclave.

He refused to give further details.

Dr. Castel-Branco said another Thai national living in
Macau had earlier this year tested positive to the AIDS
virus.

He stressed that both Thai nationals were “not sick.”
“They are only carrying the AIDS virus and they are
undergoing medical and psychiatric counselling now,”
he said.

Four cases of AIDS or HIV infection have been detected
in Macau since 1987, when testing began.

The first case was in August 1989 when a French
choreographer working at the Lisboa Casino’s Crazy
Paris Show was put in the hospital with AIDS.

The then 38-year old man died in France later that year.
“There is no reason for panic,” Dr. Castel-Branco said.

“We have one of the lowest AIDS case rates in Asia.”

An AIDS awareness programme was started in Macau by
the local health services in 1988.

EAST ASIA 13

“We have among other things distributed condoms to
certain high-risk groups in the population,” Dr. Castel-
Branco said.

Despite the large number of tourists to Macau (six
million last year) and the extent of organized prostitu-
tion in the enclave, Dr. Castel-Branco said the incidence
of AIDS was “practically insignificant.”

There are an estimated 1,500 prostitutes in Macau,
including 50 transvestites. Almost all are Thai nationals.

KIRIBATI

First AIDS Victim Confirmed

BK2307072791 Melbourne Radio Australia in English
0500 GMT 23 Jul 91

[Text] The tiny nation of Kiribati has confirmed its first
AIDS victim. Kirbati health authorities would not reveal
the sex of the victim but indicated that the person was
between 20 to 30 years of age and travels abroad fre-
quently.

The health secretary, Dr. Tetoa Titi, has said the report
has been sent to the World Health Organization for
advice and assistance on how to handle the AIDS victim.
In addition, the Kiribati Ministry of Health’s Family
Planning and Social Welfare has embarked on a major
public awareness program on AIDS.

The Pacific News Agency, PAC NEWS, says Vanuatu,
Solomon Islands, and the Cook Islands are among the
few countries in the South Pacific which have not
recorded any AIDS cases.

The Cook Islands however has reported that two of its
nationals living abroad were AIDS virus carriers, one of
whom was admitted to the Rarotonga Hospital for some
time.

MALAYSIA

HIV Carriers Increase by 42 Percent to 1,212

BK0208142691 Kuala Lumpur Radio Malaysia
Network in English 1330 GMT 2 Aug 91

[Excerpt] Health Minister Datuk Lee Kim Sai has
advised the people to undergo tests to ensure that they
are free from HIV virus which causes AIDS. The min-
istry is empowered to check only those suspected of
being carriers, but others should undergo tests on their
own. He said the number of carriers of the HIV virus had
gone up by 42 percent from 853 last year to 1,212 up to
the end of last month and most of them were between the
ages of 16 and 40 years. [passage omitted]



SIPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

manpower practices and policies which embrace a cul-
ture which is often misunderstood. Promiscuity is a
major vector of the disease—and sexual practices are
different for different sections of our society.

Business spends much time planning for VAT [value
added tax], for new political dispensations, for the rein-
troduction of foreign capital. But any scenario which
does not consider the potential impact of AIDS is
valueless.

What to do now, in the workplace, is the problem.

The position is that some aspects of the AIDS pandemic
are understood, and some figures are considered reliable
within rather wide parameters. But there is no model
which reliably tells employers how to draw up a man-
power plan.

This week, the Department of National Health & Popu-
lation Development called a media indaba to involve the
press and electronic media in publicising the AIDS issue.
But, publicise what? The businessman wants to know
whether there will be an educated or trainable labour
force available in five or 10 years’ time. And while some
projections are available, they are nebulous to a man-
power planner.

The spread of the disease across Africa was sketched out
in 1988 when Keith Edelston wrote “Countdown to
Doomsday,” a work widely regarded as sensationalist
then but which, in the light of later actuarial research, is
being seriously re-examined now. In one highly illustra-
tive passage, Edelston said: “Most of Africa’s exports are
moved to the coast on trucks...truck drivers make fre-
quent stops for tea breaks at which they can satisfy their
physical needs with the local girls for little more than the
price of a cup of tea and leave a deadly trail of HIV
infection as they go...”

The alarming concentrations of AIDS in SA are, indeed,
in port cities—and to give perspective, Edelston never
suggested truck drivers were the only or prime carriers of
HIV.

But if Edelston was frightening, some life office actuaries
are becoming increasingly gloomy in their own predic-
tions. Metropolitan Life’s Peter Doyle has published a
study suggesting that 27 percent of South Africans will be
HIV-positive by the year 2005, given no change in
general sex practices.

They will be mainly in the age group 25-40—the core of
the trainable working population. Most will be urban
blacks but AIDS observes no social boundaries. It does,
however, appear to observe educational boundaries—
provided the information is clearly, convincingly and
widely available. The disease was first noted in 1981 in
California, among the gay community. That community
is, broadly, an educated one. Once the dangers were
appreciated, the community took protective measures.

The literature on AIDS now available means no one who
can read should be in danger. The British Consulate in

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 5

Johannesburg gladly passes on leaflets explaining safety
precautions for acupuncturists, tatooists, hairdressers
and others who were once seen to be in high-risk occu-
pations. But back in SA, Old Mutual chief actuary Theo
Hartwig thinks Doyle’s model optimistic. Excessive pop-
ulation growth was seen as a threat until recently. Now
Hartwig says: “We estimate that population growth will
have ceased by the turn of the century.”

If he is right, the implications are startling. From a
scenario of too many unemployables (the result of poor
education), we change to one where there will be a
progressively smaller base of employables supporting a
progressively larger group of the retired and unemploy-
able.

The need to put training resources into making insuffi-
ciently educated people productive in the workplace has
been recognised. Now it becomes an imperative. So does
care of the aged and care, of those who are prematurely
removed from the workplace because of AIDS.

Though incidence of HIV doubles every eight months or
0, its visible effects are discernible only over a fairly
protracted period. But Hartwig expects the general pop-
ulation to have the same statistical profile by 1996 as
Zimbabwe has now—and in Zimbabwe, more than 20
percent of the economically active population is HIV-
positive. To be HIV-positive means to be dead within, at
most, 10 years. There’s no sign yet of an effective,
low-cost vaccine.

The economic impact on SA will be small in the next five
years. Bosses and strategists fall into the low-risk groups,
so there’s a temptation to regard the problem as someone
else’s. There’s an illuminating comment in the May
JOURNAL of the Institute of Personnel Management.

Dawn Mokhobo, who’s developing an AIDS strategy for
Anglo American, says: “In general, people operate on
various denial techniques and moral judgments. One has
to educate everyone—top managers in particular—as
they have to formulate policy and take decisions on the
facts against which AIDS issues should be judged. Only
then can one expect informed, progressive decisions to
be made.”

People can be led to safe sex practices. But SA has a vast,
illiterate or at best semi-literate population which will
spread the disease. So, as Alan Whiteside of the Univer-
sity of Natal acknowledges in his research for the Devel-
opment Bank, there is no way to compare the economic
impact of AIDS in Europe or the United States with
Africa.

However, some aspects of the disease work in SA’s
favour, compared to the central African experience.
Whiteside notes that the medical coverage and resources
in SA are of sufficiently high standard that there’s good
data available on the spread of AIDS. Most full-blown
cases are reported.



28 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

centers, she said. She also stressed the need for safe blood
transfusions. Dr. Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Vice-
Chancellor, Calcutta University, was the chief guest.

AIDS Problem Discussed at Bombay Meeting

91WD1042 Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA
in English 15 Jul 91 p 5

[Excerpts] Bombay, 14 July—Communication, coupled
with compassionate realism, is the key to combat the
AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome)
problem in India advocated Mr. P.G. Ramachandran,
executive secretary and member of the government body
of Population Services International, at a workshop
entitled “AIDS and the Role of Media” here on Friday.

Organised by the Directorate of Health Services, govern-
ment of Maharashtra, with a view to dispelling miscon-
ceptions on AIDS via the media, the conference was
attended by eminent persons actively involved in the
AIDS prevention and control programme.

Apprising the press of the pace at which the AIDS
problem was spreading all over India, the speakers, said
that since no cheap and effective medicines were avail-
able so far to cure the ailment, the only “‘vaccine” which
could be productively used to curb its spread was edu-
cation. [passage omitted]

Mr. Ramachandran, highlighting the extent of the AIDS
problem, “more a social than a medical one,” said there
was no AIDS disease as such. It was a condition caused
by a virus, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
which breaks down the body’s immune system and leads
to extreme fatal infections and some forms of cancer. It
can take up to 10 years for AIDS to manifest itself.
[passage omitted]

In India, 5,131 persons tested HIV-positive at the end of
May 1991 according to the WHO. The total number of
AIDS cases has risen to 68.

According to estimates by the Christian Medical College,
Vellore, a major medical establishment associated with
the earliest work on AIDS in India, one million HIV-
positive persons exist in India today. Their figures seem
to tie up with the IWG’s projection for India by 2015, of
4 to 5 million HIV-positive cases. [passage omitted]

The need for a legal structure in India which would be
anti-discriminatory and protect the human rights of
AIDS cases, was argued out by Mr. Anand Grover,
advocate, Lawyer’s Collective.

It was important for the law to ensure the spirit of
understanding for HIV and AIDS cases, to protect
human rights, to ensure confidentiality of their status.

Screening of blood and blood products must be made
mandatory and this law must be incorporated as a
condition for granting blood product manufacturing
companies their licences. Moreover, specific anti-
discriminatory conditions must be included in the law,

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

against denial of health care services to a person on the
grounds that he or she was HIV positive.

No person must be asked to undergo the HIV test to
reveal HIV status as a pre-condition for employment,
education, travel, or availing of any private or public
services.

According to Dr. Banoo Coyaji, member of the scientific
and technical advisory group (STAG), WHO prevailed
upon the media to avoid sensationalism. She conceded
that ignorance among the medical fraternity itself
needed to be removed since this could have a snow-
balling effect.

Dr. S. Salunke, joint director, directorate of health
services, revealed that a medium-term plan (for 3 years)
had been prepared for Maharashtra utilising the WHO
grant of Rs 43.54 lakhs in November 1990. In MTP, he
said, the stress would be on establishing counselling
centres, health education and exchange of information
between various associations. By now, he said, 43 sur-
veillance centres existed in Maharashtra.

IRAN

Statistics on AIDS, Hemophilia

LD2807153691 Tehran IRNA in English 1422 GMT
28 Jul 91

[Text] Tehran, July 28, IRNA—Hemophilics in Iran
number 4,675, of whom 150 were found to be stricken by
the acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),
including the 17 who succumbed to the dreaded disease,
technical deputy of the Blood Transfusion organization
seid today.

According to Dr. Faramarz Sulyman-Pur so far 25 non-
hemophiliacs suffering from AIDS were also identified,
of whom eight have already died. He said 30 percent of
the construction work on a large blood refining plant in
Tehran has been completed.

Putting blood products imports at 10 million dollars
annually, he said once the plant is completed, Iran would
export 10 million dollars worth of blood products, after
meeting its domestic needs. The plant which has a blood
plasma capacity of 80,000 litres, is to be inaugurated
next calendar year (to start March 21, 1992).

PAKISTAN

AIDS Cases Said Increasing
91AS0891A Lahore NAWA-I-WAQT in Urdu 14 Apr 91
p3

[Article: “Increase in AIDS Cases in Pakistan; Govern-
ment Precautionary Measures Inadequate”)

[Text] Islamabad (APP)—The incidence of AIDS sick-
ness is increasing in Pakistan. This was revealed by



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

CHILE

AIDS Cases Over Eight Years Total 314

PY0108234991 Santiago Radio Chilena Network
in Spanish 1700 GMT 1 Aug 91

{Summary] Health Under Secretary Patricio Silva has
presented the latest report on AIDS cases. He said that
314 cases of AIDS have been registered since the first
appearance of this disease eight years ago. He added that
26 new cases have been reported over the past six
months of which 93 percent are men and 6.3 percent are
women.

HONDURAS

Minsap Reports 78 New AIDS Cases

91WE0422A San Pedro Sula LA PRENSA in Spanish
30 Apr 91 p 41

[Text] Tegucigalpa—So far in 1991 a total of 78 persons
have been infected with the Acquired Immune Defi-
ciency Syndrome (AIDS), of whom 52 are men and 26
are women. This was stated on 29 April by the Ministry
of Public Health Minsap.

In all 1,196 cases have been confirmed in Honduras
since the first case appeared in 1985, of whom 41 are
children from birth to age 15. San Pedro Sula continues
to hold first place in the number of persons affected by
the disease, followed by other cities with high population
density.

According to available information, the total number of
cases which have been studied is 1,819, broken down as
follows: bist

Asymptomatic carriers—401

Associated symptoms—222

Dead from 1985 to the present—397
Unknown outcome—412
Survivors—387

Parallel to the campaign on preventive measures to
avoid cholera, the health authorities continue to sensi-
tize the people to beware “the illness of the 20th cen-
tury.”

Official Reports 418 AIDS-Related Deaths

PA1207204591 Panama City ACAN in Spanish
2021 GMT 4 Jul 91

[Text] Tegucigalpa, 4 Jul (ACAN-EFE)— Public Health
Ministry sources reported today that AIDS has caused
the death of 418 Hondurans and that 1,230 cases have
been recorded in the country.

LATIN AMERICA 25

Epidemiology Division director Enrique Zelaya stated
that they do not know the whereabouts of 335 people
who have AIDS and that 477 of the total number of cases
are living.

Zelaya said that 179 new AIDS cases—1 16 men and 63
women—were registered in the first six months of 1991.

Health Ministry Reports Increase of AIDS

PA0108150691 Paris AFP in Spanish 0327 GMT
I Aug 91

[Excerpt] Tegucigalpa, 31 Jul (AFP)—The Health Min-
istry reported on 30 July that there are more than 1,300
AIDS victims in Honduras, while in the rest of the region
there are 815 confirmed cases.

El Salvador is second in the list, but way below Hon-
duras, with 357 cases.

The 1,344 cases reported in Honduras represent 52
percent of the total number of AIDS patients in Central
America (2,159), while El Salvador’s 357 cases represent
16 percent. Panama is third in the region with 249 cases,
or 11 percent.

Thus far, 431 persons have died in Honduras from
AIDS.

Enrique Zelaya, president of the National Commission
Against AIDS, regretted the fact that despite the
alarming figures, the campaign against this disease has
decreased over the past few months.

Zelaya said that although Hondurans know about the
disease, “they are not taking the necessary precautions”
to prevent it.

While last year three cases were reported every two days,
during the past few months of 1991 the incidence has
increased to three cases per day. [passage omitted]

JAMAICA

Official Estimates ‘Thousands’ Infected With HIV

FL0908001591 Bridgetown CANA in English
2207 GMT 8 Aug 91

[Text] Kingston, Jamaica, Aug 8, CANA—Two children
and five adults were reported as the latest cases of
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in
Jamaica. These seven cases reported in June bring to 234
(156 males, 78 females) the number of Jamaicans who



2 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Health Minister N’Douna: At this stage, no scientific
research has led to the development of a drug that can be
put at the disposal of the public. So research has not yet
lived up to expectations. We must therefore initiate very
vigorous preventive actions. In this vein, the national
AIDS commission [words indistinct] has initiated a
campaign to educate and protect our population. We are
planning to extend such actions to cover the provinces.
We have set up regional committees to educate our
people on preventive measures. [passage omitted] [end
recording]

KENYA

AIDS Drug Said Approved for Testing, Use

91WE0404 Nairobi KENYA TIMES in English
3 Jun 91 pp 4, 19

[Article by Michael Otieno]

[Excerpts] The Ministry of Health has approved for test
and use in Kenya of a new drug—Immunex—said to be
effective in the clinical management of AIDS and other
viral diseases, the KENYA TIMES established.

Immunex, like Kemron, is based on the natural human
protein—Interferon—which is produced in the body
when there is a viral attack.

The new drug is produced by an Australian firm—
Encarich Development Limited of Victoria and a local
firm—the Medikem International Limited of Nairobi
which has the sole rights for the distribution of the
product in Kenya and in Africa. [passage omitted]

According to a brief on the drug, Immunex has 16
sub-species of interferons while the natural animal body
produces 20. Kemron has 9 interferon sub-species. Dr.
Kariithi was quick to add: “Immunex has a broader
spectrum since its sub-species closely relate to the human
situation.”

Dr. Kariithi explained to the KENYA TIMES that the
inerferons on which the drug is formulated are from
Wellcome Kenya Ltd.

“Encaric Development does not manufacture inter-
ferons but their innovation is a development of a stable
delivery system for the interferons. An injectible form of
the interferons in Immunex have been in the market for
a long time in an injectible form—Welferon,” he said.

Dr. Kariithi explained further that like Kemron,
Immunex will be taken sublingually or as a lozenge, and
the patient must massage the drug in the mouth until it
dissolves but must withhold saliva in the mouth for four
to five minutes before swallowing. It should be taken 30
minutes before or 30 minutes after meal.

He said that the tablet will be taken sublingually (below
the tongue) since scientists had discovered that the

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

oral-pharengeal area of the mouth had a high number of
interferon receptors which were activated by very low
dosages of interferon.

He paid tribute to the Kemri innovation of the use of low
dosages of interferon for medical purposes unlike the
higher dosages employed in the past: “Immunex con-
tains only 200 international units of interferon as com-
pared to the injectible form which has three million
international units of the protein in one vial.” [passage
omitted]

In Kenya, the DMS [Department of Medical Services}
only last week revealed that the number of AIDS cases in
the country increases at a staggering 5,000 new cases
each year and it now stands at 17,260. [passage omitted]

Forged AIDS Test Certificates Said Available

91WE0460A Nairobi KENYA TIMES in English
27 Jun 91 p 5

[Article by Muthuuri Nyamu]

[Excerpts] The Director of Medical Services, Professor
Joseph Oliech, yesterday promised to investigate press
reports of an organised syndicate at the Kenyatta
National Hospital dealing in fake AIDS tests certificates.

At the same time, India’s High Commission in Nairobi
yesterday clarified that Kenyan students travelling for
further studies in India are not required to undergo a
mandatory AIDS test at the hospital although they are
required to undergo a mandatory AIDS test in selected
hospitals once in India. [passage omitted]

He said that foreign students in India once found to test
positive to the HIV virus are immediately repatriated to
their countries.

Mr. Ramesh said that before the students get travelling
visas from the mission they sign particulars binding
them to undertake AIDS ‘tests under the supervision of
the Indian Government doctors.

Prof. Oliech said that he had just read press reports
revealing the syndicate and was waiting to be briefed so
that he could hold a meeting with Dr. Agata to consider
what action to take.

Dr. Agata was said to be in the meeting throughout
yesterday.

Yesterday, the DAILY NATION reported that its
reporter, pretending to be a student travelling for further
studies managed to get an AIDS-free certificate after
paying Sh300 through a middle woman who, within 15
minutes, managed to produce the certificate with a
hospital address, official stamp, a reference number,
date and a signature purportedly the work of a doctor.

The revelation comes in the wake of foreign countries
demanding that students from Kenya must produce an



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

ANGOLA

Lack of AIDS Awareness Worries Authorities

91WE0432A Lisbon PUBLICO in Portuguese
30 Jun 91 p 27

{Article by Luanda correspondent Helio Belik]

[Text] A new war is underway among the Angolans—
namely, the “discovery” of AIDS, a scourge which must
be urgently combated. In addition to a lack of awareness
of the risks, it must be considered that the statistics do
not correspond to reality.

According to Angola’s Ministry of Health [MS], 211
cases of AIDS were reported throughout the country in
1990. This figure is far from reality inasmuch as the
report covers only those patients who were admitted to
public hospitals in an advanced stage of the disease.

“In Luanda alone there must be five times that many
cases reported by the ministry for the country as a
whole,” asserted biologist Maria Olivia Torres, president
of the Angolan Association for the Combat Against
AIDS, founded last May and headquartered in the vault
of Luanda’s Museum of Natural History. There are no
statistics or control over the number of people infected
by the AIDS virus, nor is it possible to determine how
many people have already died as a result of the syn-
drome.

Also according to the official figures, the capital is
considered the area most affected, with about 71 percent
of the cases, followed by the provinces of Cabinda and
Zaire, with 7 percent each. The groups most affected by
the syndrome are those between 20 and 39 years of age,
with about 60 percent of the cases, and those between 40
and 59 years of age, with about 23 percent. The propor-
tion of infected men is three times greater than that of
infected women.

Maria Olivia Torres is afraid that AIDS will soon
become a public calamity and stresses the immediate
need to take measures designed to enlighten the people
and prevent the disease from gaining a still greater
foothold among the sectors of the Angolan population
least affected until now. “If we do not take immediate
steps to combat AIDS, within five years we could have a
situation in Angola similar to that of Zaire where it is
estimated that about 40 percent of the residents of the
capital, Kinshasa, are carriers of the HIV positive, the
AIDS virus,” asserts the biologist. To obtain an idea of
the extent of AIDS in the Angolan capital, the laboratory
of the National Blood Center [CNS], an organization
subordinate to the MS, reports that it receives an average
of two to three cases per day of blood contaminated by
the AIDS virus.

According to the president of the Association for the
Combat Against AIDS—an autonomous group which
works entirely on a voluntary basis—the groups consid-
ered high-risk to be affected by AIDS are, in order of

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1

importance: prostitutes, truck drivers, soldiers, pris-
oners, and seafaring people in general. In addition, there
is an increasing number of cases where the AIDS virus
has been transmitted through blood transfusions. Maria
Olivia stresses the lack of control of blood used in
transfusions as the most worrisome problem in the
combat against AIDS. “At the CNS the situation is quite
serious. Imagine then what is happening in the provinces
farther from Luanda. I know that the problem of con-
taminated transfusions is serious in Vigo,” says the
biologist.

In Luanda there is an official program for combating
AIDS, promoted by the MS under the direction of Dr.
Elza Montez. This program has been designed to arrange
seminars and awareness campaigns among the people.
But according to news commentator Joana Teixeira of
Angola National Radio [RNA], the people are virtually
unaware of methods for preventing AIDS, such as the
use of contraceptives and sterilized needles.

Joana Teixeira, who gives a daily radio broadcast on
public health, believes that certain traditional customs
among Angolans, such as polygamy, are contributing to
the spread of the AIDS virus. Another problem is the
lack of the people’s acceptance of the use of contracep-
tives: “AIDS is only one of a number of diseases sexually
transmissible. There are others in Angola whose indexes
of contamination are also continuing to grow,” adds the
news commentator.

However, in the opinion of some observers, the combat
against AIDS is not a priority issue in Angola, since
malaria, diarrhea, respiratory diseases, and cholera are
killing many more people. In 1990 a total of 46,723 cases
of cholera were reported throughout the country. About
45 percent of the deaths which occurred last year were
caused by infantile diarrhea, 26 percent by paludism
(malaria), and 10 percent by tuberculosis. In view of this
picture, AIDS appears to be an insignificant problem;
but without control or awareness on the part of the
people, it can only continue to grow and eventually reach
the alarming levels being experienced by Zaire and
Uganda.

CONGO

Health Minister on Government Anti-AIDS
Measures

AB1307181691 Brazzaville Voix de la Revolution
Congolaise Network in French 1830 GMT 12 Jul 91

[Excerpt] The AIDS situation in our country is becoming
increasingly alarming. In fact, AIDS prevalence is esti-
mated at 11 percent in Pointe-Noire, 6 percent at
Loubomo [words indistinct], and 7 percent in Brazza-
ville. The killer disease has thus become a real public
health issue. How does the transition government plan to
revive the struggle against this disease in our country?
Health Minister Paul N’Douna has given clarifications
to our reporter, Ngosso Eleme. [Begin recording]



14 EAST ASIA

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Health Report Reveals 21 AIDS Deaths

BK1207071891 Melbourne Radio Australia in English
0500 GMT 12 Jul 91

[Text] Health Authorities in Papua New Guinea have
revealed that 21 people have died of AIDS in that
country. Marius Benson reports that details of the AIDS
deaths were contained in a report on the country’s health
which also showed an increase in cancer and heart
disease.

[Begin recording] The report released by the health
minister Gerald Beona revealed that as well as the 21
deaths from AIDS, another 33 people had been con-
firmed of having the virus, and a further 75 had been in
contact with it. Mr. Beona said endemic diseases
including malaria and tuberculosis continued to be a
major problem throughout the country.

The report found an increase in mouth and lung cancer
reflecting a dramatic rise in cigarette smoking and
chewing a betel nut. Heart disease is also on the increase
and that is being blamed on both smoking and a more
fatty diet as well as a decrease in physical exercise. [end
recording]

THAILAND

AIDS Detection Methodology, Trends Discussed

91WE0337E Bangkok MATICHON in Thai
30 Mar 91 p 8

{Article by Dr. Wichai Chokwiwat]

[Excerpt] [Passage omitted] In 1987 during the time of
the provisional government, the Ministry of Public
Health, which was headed by Major General (his rank at
that time) Chatchai Chunhawan, decided to purchase
ELIZA machines to detect those with AIDS. These
machines were given to provincial hospitals throughout
the country. Because of this, almost every province can
detect those with the AIDS virus. The blood samples that
test positive must be sent for further examination before
deciding whether the person definitely has the AIDS
virus.

The number of people with AIDS has increased. In
particular, in 1988, the number of people with AIDS
increased at an alarming rate among IV drug users. After
that, the virus began to be found among prostitutes.

Even though there have been frequent AIDS reports
from around the country, the Ministry of Public Health
feels that the AIDS detection system does not show the
actual situation. The weakness of this system is that it
depends on the interest or amount of attention shown by
officials. If many surveys are conducted, many cases are
found. If few surveys are conducted, few cases are found.
This also depends on the cooperation and interest of the

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

people. If the people cooperate and large numbers of
people are checked, more cases may be found. But if the
people avoid being tested, few cases may be discovered.

The important thing is that even though the incidence of
AIDS among those checked can be determined, it isn’t
possible to determine the actual incidence among var-
ious groups or among people in general.

Comparing this with other diseases such as diarrhea, of
which there are 700-800,000 cases a year, studies con-
ducted on the incidence of diarrhea among children
below the age of 5 in 14 northeastern villages found that
only 7.2 percent of the cases were reported.

Thus, the Ministry of Public Health has implemented
another AIDS surveillance system, that is, the Sentinel
Surveillance system, to monitor the incidence of AIDS
among five groups:

1. Blood donors.

2. IV drug users.

3. Pregnant women.

4. Men examined for venereal disease.

5. Prostitutes, divided into two subgroups, women who
work openly as prostitutes and women who engage in
this secretly.

Besides this, initially, tests were given to people who had
just been sent to prison and to prisoners who were about
to be released. And male prostitutes were examined in
five major tourist provinces.

This sentinel surveillance system has been carried on
every 6 months:

First phase, June 1989, carried on in 14 provinces.

Second phase, December 1989, carried on in 31 prov-
inces.

Third phase, June 1990, carried on in 72 provinces.

Fourth phase, December 1990, carried on in 72 prov-
inces.

The program will be carried on every 6 months. The
question about which there has been much argument is:
How many Thais now have the AIDS virus?

A report issued by the Epidemiology Division, Ministry
of Public Health, on 28 February 1991 states that there
are 27,038 people with the AIDS virus who do not yet
exhibit any symptoms, 243 people who have the initial
symptoms (ARC), and 94 people with a full-blown case
of AIDS.

These are just figures reported to the Ministry of Public
Health. No one knows how many cases have not been
reported. And most important, no one knows how many
people with the virus have not been examined.



4 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

for coordinators of the AIDS Information and Preven-
tion Program, which took place recently in the country’s
capital.

During the above-mentioned seminar, which took place
in the Health Development Regional Center (CRDS) in
Maputo, the 11 delegates from the Mozambican prov-
inces reported that 220 activists in displaced persons
camps were trained in AIDS prevention. Adelino Mal-
iquela, the CVM national coordinator for the AIDS
Program, told our reporter that many complexes existed
within the displaced persons camps which hindered open
discussion among men and women or among people of
different age groups. Therefore the activiists organized
talks among people of the same sex or age.

Meanwhile, during the first year of the program, the
coordinators of the AIDS Prevention Program were
confronted with various problems such as the reluctance
of people to use condoms during occasional sexual
encounters. Nevertheless, the source continued, at least
15,000 people received instruction in AIDS prevention
by attending talks and theater presentations given on
that topic.

Another problem encountered by this program was the
insistence by almost everyone on seeing an AIDS victim.
Adelino Maliquela believes that in 10 years everyone
who is presently living will have seen at least one AIDS
victim, that is, if prevention methods are not rigorously
applied. We refer to a recent communique from the
health minister’s office which states that the number of
people infected by the AIDS virus has risen to 216.

Health Ministry—Number of Registered AIDS
Cases 233

MB2707132091 Maputo Radio Maputo in English
1100 GMT 27 Jul 91

[Text] The number of notified cases of the killer disease
AIDS in Mozambique has risen to 233. This is according
to the AIDS Coordinating Center in the Health Ministry
in Maputo. About half of those diagnosed as suffering
from AIDS have already died. Cases have now been
reported from all 10 of the country’s provinces, and from
the capital, Maputo.

The largest number of cases diagnosed have been in
Maputo, but it is believed that this reflects the greater
availibility of medical facilities in the capital, rather than
a greater degree of infection.

The health authorities in Mozambique have warned that
the real incidence of AIDS is probably considerably
higher than the figures suggest. The destruction of much
of the rural health network by Renamo [Mozambique
National Resistance], and other difficulties caused by
the war means that many cases are never diagnosed.

IJPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

NIGERIA

Organization Launches AIDS Awareness
Campaign

91P40377A Luanda JORNAL DE ANGOLA
in Portuguese 3 Jul 91 p 10

[Text] Lagos— The Nigerian association “Stopaids”
launched a comprehensive AIDS awareness capaign on
public transportation systems. The “jiffy” transport
serves 75 percent of the country’s population and the
realization of this campaign should have tangible results.
Pearl Nvashili, the coordinator of the ‘Stopaids”
project, believes that, in view of the fact that the
majority of the people are uninformed about this terrible
disease, this awareness campaign and the means by
which the information is disseminated will be an impor-
tant contribution in the struggle against the illness. She
urged the government of Nigeria to channel more
Tesources toward awarness campaigns in this area.
According to Pearl Nvashili, at least five million Nige-
rians have AIDS or are carriers of the virus. The
“scourge of the 20th century” will become a real night-
mare for the most populous country in Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA

Impact of AIDS on Work Force Worries Business
Sector

91WE0420 Johannesburg FINANCIAL MAIL
in English 24 May 91 pp 30-33

[Text] Like cancer, AIDS is not considered a pretty
dinner-table subject. That’s fair enough—but those who
exclude the problem from the boardroom as well put
their business at risk.

The outcome of full-blown AIDS is death—but the
dramatic symptoms of the Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome do not appear overnight after infection by the
virus (HIV) which causes it. So one of the problems with
AIDS is that it’s not readily visible as a mass phenom-
enon, as yet.

Though thousands of South Africans—among them not
a few executives—are already HIV-positive, which is to
say, infected, for most people the syndrome has not yet
crossed any personal threshold of awareness.

This will change. On certain analyses, South Africans
will soon be dying of AIDS-related causes at the rate of
320,000 a year; and population growth will be zero if not
negative. But those are overall estimates—AIDS will
largely claim its victims from the black community.

That goes straight to the hub of the problem of percep-
tion. Managers of SA companies, largely, can separate
themselves personally from the issue. They belong to
that stratum of society permeable to preventative infor-
mation, and it will be their work forces which are the
main victims. Clearly it will be difficult to formulate


20 EUROPE

POLAND

WHO Will Fight AIDS in Poland

AUI1807113691 Warsaw RZECZPOSPOLITA in Polish
16 Jul 91 p2

[Z.S. report: “WHO Will Help Combat AIDS”)

[Text] Out of 600 homosexuals who have been medically
examined, every 27th is HIV positive, said Zbigniew
Halat, vice minister of health and social welfare, at a
news conference on Monday. But when someone asked
him what other social groups contain HIV carriers, he
did not reply, saying that this information is no longer

IJPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

being collected ever since the Supreme Medical Council
protested in February about the method of registering
HIV carriers, describing it as a violation of medical
confidentiality.

Several WHO missions specializing in the prevention of
AIDS will visit Poland soon. The first mission will help
Polish specialists work out a new system to register AIDS
cases. The remaining missions will investigate, among
other things, the legal rules governing prostitution, drug
addiction, and blood donation. They will see whether
these rules permit the prevention of AIDS, and, if
necessary, they will suggest new solutions already in
force in countries that experienced AIDS before Poland.


JPRS-TEP-9 1-018
27 AUGUST 1991

Foreign

Broadcast
Information
Service

ANNIVERSARY
1941 - 1991

» eee ne ene rar ene
Approved for public releces:
Distribution Unlimited

Epidemiology

AIDS

19980506 030

|
nen

DTIC QUALITY INSPECTED 5

REPRODUCED BY

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
NATIONAL TECHNICAL

INFORMATION SERVICE

SPRINGFIELD, VA 22161



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

launched, valuable skills for tackling problems in a
future South Africa could be developed.”

KwaZulu Health Minister on Projected AIDS
Mortality Rate

MB0606165291 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1630 GMT 6 Jun 91

[Text] Ulundi June 6 SAPA — The number of deaths
due to AIDS in Natal and kwaZulu could be one million
within the next five years and almost three million by the
year 2000.

In addition, up to 500,000 of those deaths by the end of
the century could be those of infants.

These statistics were released on Thursday in Ulundi by
the kwaZulu minister of health, Dr. B.S. Ngubane, when
he delivered his policy speech in the homeland’s Legis-
lative Assembly.

Pointing out the gravity of the disease’s spread, Dr.
Ngubane said there had been a 300 percent increase in
the number of HIV positive cases last year in kwaZulu
alone—their laboratories had confirmed 585 cases of
which 450 were detected in 1990.

“If the doubling time for the spread of the HIV infection
is nine months, the cumulative total of HIV infected
individuals in the black group aged 15-64 (in Natal/
kwaZulu) will be 2.55-million by 1996 and 8-million by
the end of the century.

“Deaths due to AIDS will be almost 1-million by 1996
and 2.9- million by the year 2000, and 160,000 and
half-a-million respectively will be infant deaths,” said Dr
Ngubane.

To prevent the spread of the virus, his department had
earmarked pupils for a major AIDS awareness cam-
paign.

“It is our intention to build up an AIDS unit with
sufficient manpower and resources to ensure that no one
has an excuse for professing ignorance of what AIDS is
doing.”

Union Urges AIDS Awareness for Truck Drivers

91WE0444 Johannesburg THE WEEKLY MAIL
in English 14-20 Jun 91 p 9

[Article by Jennifer Pogrund]

{Text] “AIDS on Wheels”—that’s the hazard facing
South Africa’s long-distance truck drivers, who spend
weeks or months away from home, often travelling
through deepest, darkest, disease-infected Africa.

“There is a general perception among employers and
management that truck drivers are responsible for the
importation of AIDS into South Africa,” says Bafana
Seripe, AIDS education officer for the Transport and
General Workers’ Union (TGWU).

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 7

“They argue that AIDS has been spread along transport
routes to and from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and
Zaire.

“But our belief is that nobody has done a study to prove
that, and this represents a way of discriminating against
truck drivers as a group, of identifying and labelling
them, and blaming them. You can look at a lot of people
and say they are responsible. But it doesn’t help mat-
ters.”

The progressive attitude, says Seripe, is for the union to
educate its membership, “to discuss what the issue is,
what the dangers are, and how they can take precau-
tions.”

To this end TGWU has started a pilot AIDS educational
programme aimed at truck drivers.

Some alarm was caused by an industry-initiated survey
conducted over two years ago, that found 13 out of 26
drivers who were tested were infected with the HIV
virus.

The survey was never published, and has been widely
discounted as not being representative or statistically
relevant. “The survey tested specific drivers from trop-
ical areas,” said an industry source.

“But it gave an indication that truck drivers are vulner-
able to HIV.”

The union acknowledges that there are problems—truck
drivers are away from home for long stretches of time,
and at the stop-overs there are women selling sex, “but
also to alleviate the loneliness of the middle of the night
in the middle of nowhere,” says Seripe.

Often drivers are forced to sleep in their trucks, as it is
their on the road responsibility to look after the trucks at
the stop-overs.

To counteract this, the union is negotiating that drivers
spend more time at home—either a day a week, or a
weekend a month. And that when they are on the road,
they are provided with sleeping facilities, such as hotel
accommodation.

But the issues of changing behaviour and attitudes are
loaded. “Workers are suspicious of management’s
attempts to control the spread of the virus. There has
been testing, and examples of workers being dismissed
for being HIV positive.”

Currently there is negotiation between the union and a
Durban-based freight company, where a worker was
tested, found to be HIV positive and fired. He has now
been re-instated, but is not allowed to drive.

“We feel that management’s interest in AIDS is because
they want to protect their profits. Their preoccupation is
about not giving out benefits, such as housing and
medical aid, or investing skills in people or training them
when they might fall ill or die,” says Seripe.



6 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Secondly, the epidemic is only now going to work in SA,
so there’s a belt of knowledge from the north which can
be used in preventative campaigns. In some African
countries, the solution to AIDS has been to send the
patient home to wait for death. In SA there is a growing
understanding that an HIV-positive subject still has
several more active years ahead, so employers are for-
mulating policies to prolong usefulness—but without
prejudice to colleagues who share in benefits such as
group life schemes.

For business, the issue at present—before it is over-
whelmed by sheer human misery—is education. For the
sake of credibility—since people are being asked to
re-evaluate aspects of the very way in which they live—
direction has to come from top management itself.

HIV Incidence Increasing at Baragwanath
Hospital

91WE0418 Cape Town THE ARGUS in English
28 May 91 p2

{Text] Johannesburg—At least two people a day at
Baragwanath Hospital are identified as HIV-positive
and preliminary findings of studies in progress show that
the prevalence of the disease is increasing, Professor
Keith Klugman has said.

Professor Klugman, who is studying the disease at the
hospital, said 21 out of 7,000 (three in 1,000) women
attending the antenatal clinic at the hospital in late 1989
and early 1990 tested HIV-positive. The latest survey
indicated an incidence of 8.6 per 1,000.

“We are getting to the situation where one or two, or
more, out of 100 women presenting at the antenatal
clinic are infected,” he said.

Earlier he said “men were by far the more important
group to look at in terms of the spread of HIV.”

Institute Criticizes State’s, ANC’s Anti-AIDS
Efforts

MB2905 162491 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1603 GMT 29 May 91

[Text] Johannesburg May 29 SAPA—The government’s
reponse to the AIDS epidemic has been “utterly inade-
quate”, according to the AIDS centre at the South
African Institute of Medical Research.

In a statement on Wednesday [29 May] the centre said
the government campaigns directed against the disease
have been ineffective, unsuccessful and inept.

The advertising campaign targeted at the black popula-
tion, which showed a coffin being lowered into a grave,
“elicited fear and denial and was generally perceived as
racist”.

“The equivalent campaign for whites was graffiti written
on a wall, which was abstract and misunderstood. A
pamphlet was produced in 1989 which was also very

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

unsuccessful because of the poor design and inept trans-
lation into African languages,” the centre said.

South Africa also was lagging behind other African
countries, such as Mozambique and Uganda, on the
amount of money allocated to AIDS education.

The centre said recent indications were that the govern-
ment was now taking AIDS education more seriously,
but sex education was still not part of school curricula
and condoms are not allowed to be advertised on
national TV.

“Futhermore, government has a crisis of credibility, and
it is questionable whether it can play a major role in the
local AIDS epidemic.”

The harsh words on AIDS prevention were not only
reserved for the government. The centre said although
church organisations, trade unions, community organi-
sations and political parties had started playing a role in
AIDS education, they were being hampered by a lack of
funds and a general apathy among the population.

The ANC [African National Congress], despite commit-
ting itself to playing a leading role in the battle against
AIDS and the HIV virus, has been “seriously negligent in
addressing the AIDS problem”.

“For instance, ANC leaders never mention AIDS in their
public speeches.”

The centre also outlined the possible consequences of the
AIDS epidemic in South Africa, saying it could “further
exacerbate the already immense social, political and
economic disruption in South Africa”.

A Development Bank of South Africa report estimated
that by 1995 AIDS could be costing the country
R{rand]3 billion a year. This figure represents only the
direct costs, the centre says.

The centre also said that the disease in South Africa
followed two distinct patterns along racial lines.

The first pattern is among white male homosexuals, but
since the first case in this category was diagnosed in 1982
the number of cases appears to be slowing down.

The other pattern is that of increasing prevalence of the
disease in the black heterosexual population. The centre
said as a result of this, it expects the second highest
number of AIDS cases to be those of children who have
contracted the HIV virus from their mothers.

The centre said apartheid has provided a fertile breeding
ground for AIDS, with its system of migrant labour,
homelands and township urbanisation.

According to the centre, the real issues of AIDS could
become obscured by emotional and political rivalries.

“If instead of using AIDS as yet another stick with which
to beat each other, it can be used as an issue around
which a cooperative onslaught on the epidemic can be



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

AFGHANISTAN

Doctor Details AIDS Laboratory’s Work

91WE0468B Kabul THE KABUL TIMES in English
10 Jun 91 p4

[Article by Dr. Zahir Ayobi]

[Text] AIDS is a deadly disease which has been the focus
of attention for medical doctors the world over. There-
fore, the developed world has spent a large amount of
money for its research in an attempt to find a cure for
this hazardous disease. In Afghanistan no center existed
till the recent decades. Thanks to Dr. Ghazanfar, one of
the geniuses, great and well-known professor of the
Kabul State medical Institute, he embarked on inventing
unique methods to arrest the bacteria of AIDS, three
years ago, in an effort to diagnose and cure AIDS.

Our readers, for sure would be interested to know
whether any case of this killing disease has been regis-
tered in the laboratory or not. To give accurate informa-
tion to readers, we have interviewed the well-known
professor doctor Ghazanfar, presented here below:

Q: When was the AIDS laboratory opened in Afghani-
stan?

A: Exactly three years ago.

Q: How many tests have been carried out in your
laboratory so far?

A: In the first month of our work we conducted 1674
tests. To be accurate we conducted 100 tests per month.
[as published]

Q: Have you happened to notice any case of AIDS?

A: Fortunately, we haven’t come across any case of this
disease, and we can say for sure that this hazardous
disease doesn’t exist in Afghanistan.

Q: Do you think the tests you have carried out so far are
enough?

A: Not at all. We are decisive to conduct millions of tests
for diagnosing this bacteria.

Q: Are you sure that your tests are accurate and confi-
dential?

A: Yes, of course, our tests have scientific basis and in
full compliance with international norms and principles.

Q: What would be the symptoms and signs of AIDS
syndrome?

A: Suppose somebody has the signs of this virus he/she
would lose 10 percent weight. And of course he would
have continuous diarrhoea and fever for more than a
month, itching skin, febrile labial herpes, weakness of
memory and swollen glands, which is due to a special

R EAST & SOUTH ASIA 27

bacteria called psycho-syndrome. “Those who are suspi-
cious of being contaminated with the virus come to our
laboratory without any restriction”, Doctor Ghazanfar
advised.

INDIA

More Positive HIV Tests in Calcutta

91WD0924 Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English
4 Jun 91 p3

[Text] Sixteen people have tested positive for the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Calcutta, according to
Dr. M.S. Chakravarty, professor of virology, School of
Tropical Medicine, on Monday. The results were arrived
at in course of the ongoing tests since 1989 to determine
the incidence of the acquired immunodeficiency syn-
drome in Calcutta. Out of the sixteen AIDS patients,
four were foreign students and two belonged to the
“high-risk group” comprising prostitutes and those suf-
fering from sexually transmitted diseases.

With the growing concern over the spread of AIDS, the
Central Drug Control Organization and the Directorate
of Drugs Control, West Bengal began a five-day work-
shop during the day in order to impart technical knowl-
edge among drug control officers on blood banks. Dr.
Naresh Banerjee, member of the Drugs Technical Advi-
sory Board [DTAB], said amendments to the Drugs and
Cosmetics Act were in the offing to introduce further
checks on blood collection, storage and transfusion.
Professional donors would have to carry identity cards
and bottles would be labelled to indicate that the blood
was free from hepatitis B or HIV contamination. There
would be rules to discourage professional donorship and
the collection of blood from prison inmates. The DTAB
is scheduled to meet in a few months to consider and
ratify these and other amendments to the Act.

According to Mr. N.C. Bagchi, director of Drugs Con-
trol, West Bengal, the main problem was the lack of
motivation among private blood banks to ensure the
supply of safe blood. Most of the banks failed to main-
tain essential records and more often than not did not
test blood for impurities and infection. He said that the
granting of licenses to private blood bank would be
strengthened.

There are 25 commercial blood banks in West Bengal
and 15 applications for the same were pending, Mr.
Bagchi said. Most of these blood banks collect blood
from professional donors whose blood is likely to be
infected with disease organisms.

Mrs. Leena Chakravarty, West Bengal Health Secretary,
said the blood banking system had not kept up with the
development in other specialized medical fields. The
State Government had outlined a specific scheme for
development and modernization of the system in order
to step up voluntary donation, increasing the facility in
the districts, upgrading manpower and establishing new



26 LATIN AMERICA

have contracted AIDS since December 1982, according
to data provided by the National HIV/STD Control
Programme. Counted among the five adults were a 60
year-old woman and another under 40. The children
were under five years old.

Dr. Peter Figueroa, director of the programme estimates
that “thousands of Jamaicans” are infected with HIV,
the AIDS-causing virus which is transmitted through sex
with an infected person. He added: “However the vast
majority do not know that they are infected because they
are completely without symptoms.”

Twenty-nine children who inherited the HIV from their
mothers during pregnancy or at childbirth, had devel-
oped AIDS up to the end of June. While 28 of these
children are under four, one has survived her fifth
birthday. The mortality rate of children with AIDS
currently stands at 69 percent.

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

PERU

Trujillo Reports 800 AIDS Cases

PY1607183291 Lima LA REPUBLICA in Spanish
18 Jun 91 p 17

[Excerpt] Trujillo, 17 Jun—Angel Quintanilla, coordi-
nator of the AIDS Prevention Committee, has reported
that seven AIDS cases have been recently detected in
Trujillo and one in the Andean city of Huamachuco. The
AIDS cases in Trujillo now total 800.

URUQUAY

Twenty AIDS Deaths This Year

PY2907160491 Madrid EFE in Spanish 2323 GMT
26 Jul 91

[Summary] Montevideo, 26 Jul (EFE}—According to an
official report released today, 20 people died of AIDS
between January and July 1991. The number of fatal
AIDS cases since 1983 now totals 96. Although 944
people have tested positive for HIV virus, so far only 188
AIDS cases have been officially registered.



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

AIDS-free certificate before enrolling as students in such
countries. [passage omitted]

NAC: Job Applicant Screening Illegal

91WE0460B Nairobi SUNDAY TIMES in English
30 Jun 91 p3

[Article by Murigi Macharia]

[Text] The National AIDS Committee (NAC) yesterday
issued a strong statement warning that it was both illegal
and unethical for any employer of organisation in the
country to screen its employees for the killer disease
AIDS.

The committee further said that such a move was totally
against the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Govern-
ment policy on AIDS control in the country.

In a signed statement, the AIDS Committee said that
screening of employees for AIDS was also against the
World Health Organisation (WHO) and the global pro-
gramme on AIDS control policy guidelines.

The chairman of the AIDS committee, Dr. Sobbie A.Z.
Mulindi, said in the statement that any affected
employees or individual had the right to appeal.

The AIDS committee was reacting to press reports in the
last one week that employers should screen prospective
employees.

A leading Nairobi psychiatrist, Dr. Samuel Gatere last
Thursday suggested that all employers should carry out
intensive tests and that those found with the disease
should not be offered employment.

Dr. Gatere, while addressing a meeting of the Institute of
Personnel Management in Nairobi, was quoted as saying
that all persons and especially those for senior posts
should be made to undergo all three mandatory AIDS
tests, that is, Elias, Western Blot and Lumunal Fluores-
cent Assay, before being considered for employment.

The Kenya Medical Association (KMA) reacted sharply
to Dr. Gatere’s suggestions dismissing the move as
“unethical, discriminatory and unjustified.”

The KMA chairman Dr. J.A. Aluoch said Dr. Gatere’s
suggestions went beyond the medical profession’s ethics
and “was equally misleading.”

“As medical practioners serving the people of Kenya,
KMA feels that the statement was misleading, Dr.
Aluoch said in a statement.

The AIDS National Committee yesterday said that
nobody should be discriminated against or denied
employment, housing, treatment or schooling simply
because she or he tests HIV positive.

“The Kenya Government has not allowed compulsory
screening or isolation of AIDS infected individual,” said
the national AIDS body.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 3

The AIDS national body said the WHO declaration on
AIDS prevention emphasised the need for AIDS preven-
tion programmes to protect human rights and human
stigmatisation of HIV infected people.

MALAWI
Government Criticizes Report of ‘Chaos’ From
AIDS

MB0806153691 Johannesburg Radio RSA in English
1500 GMT 8 Jun 91

[Text] The Malawian Government has criticized a report
in a London newspaper, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH,
saying the country is facing chaos as a result of the spread
of AIDS.

The Malawian Health Ministry said it was not acceptable
to Malawi to have the suggession made that there was
chaos over a health problem like AIDS. The ministry
said it was irresponsible journalism.

The newspaper report quoted World Health Organiza-
tion figures, saying more than 7,000 Malawians had
AIDS while nearly 3 million, or 37 percent of the
population, were carriers of the disease.

The report said most of the AIDS sufferers were in the
army, police, and government circles, and that the dis-
ease threatened to cause a complete breakdown of gov-
ernment and law and order in Malawi.

MOZAMBIQUE

Ministry Announces Official AIDS Figures

91P40369A Maputo NOTICIAS in Portuguese 6 Jul 91
pl

[Text] The number of people infected by the AIDS virus
in the country has risen to 216 following the report in
May of an additional seven cases. The Health Ministry’s
top official, Carlos Matsinhe, who informed our paper of
the fact, said that the 216 reported cases in the country
have already been divulged to the World Health Organi-
zation. He added that the last seven cases were reported
in the province of Maputo (four) and Manica, Zambezia,
and Nampula, with one case each.

AIDS Prevention Taught in Displaced Persons
Camps

91P40395A Maputo NOTICIAS in Portuguese 18 Jul 91
p2

[Text] From 1990 to the present, approximately 15,000
persons accommodated in various camps for displaced
war victims throughout the country received instruction
in prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in general,
and AIDS in particular, This information was acquired
from a Mozambican Red Cross (CVM) annual report
presented at the closing of the second national seminar



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

establishments. They were also asked to cooperate by
having all the prostitutes use condoms. Evaluations have
shown that the owners of the brothels have cooperated
well. They have put up posters on AIDS and posted signs
saying, “This establishment serves only those who use
condoms.” At the same time, the number of prostitutes
who have contracted other sexually-transmitted diseases
has declined. Thus, it is thought that more prostitutes are
now using condoms.

Besides this, Phayao Province also held a seminar for
prostitutes from the brothels in the province, with each
of the 74 brothels allowed to send two representatives.
This seminar, which lasted 1 day, provided the women
with information about AIDS. [passage omitted]

It is thought that the 419 prostitutes in the province
know about AIDS and know how to protect themselves
from contracting this disease. [passage omitted]

Statistics Show AIDS Infection Among Teenage
Students

BK1907011191 Bangkok BANGKOK POST in English
19 Jul 91 p 3

[Text] Statistics gathered by the Public Health Ministry
have found a disturbing trend of AIDS virus transmis-
sion in northern Thailand, where it is now infecting
secondary school students.

This was revealed at a conference on AIDS yesterday
attended by high-ranking officials from seven ministries.

The ministry reported that from September 1984 until
the end of last June, there were 31,812 known Human
Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) infection cases nation-
wide.

Of these, one-quarter are from the North. Female pros-
titutes represent nearly half (42 percent) of the northern
cases.

Another study spearheaded by the public health office in
Chiang Mai on HIV infection among secondary school
students found that 1.85 percent of male students and
0.57 percent of female students have been infected. It is
the first indication that AIDS has found its way to
secondary school students.

The ministry said that by the end of last year, the
number of HIV infections in Thailand had probably
reached 200,000, about half of whom would be men
visiting prostitutes. At the same time, the number of
women infected through relations with their husbands
was projected to be between 13,000 and 15,000.

The spread of AIDS among the general population has
caused enough concern for high-ranking officials from
seven ministries to work together to stop its transmis-
sion.

EAST ASIA 17

In addition to Public Health, the ministries are Agricul-
ture, Commerce, Education, Industry, Interior and Uni-
versity Affairs.

“AIDS is not just a health or medical problem but a very
real social one,” said Public Health Minister Dr. Phairot
Ningsanon in his opening statement at the conference.

“More commercial sex workers and their clients contract
the deadly infection each day. It has spread into the
family, infecting housewives and their children. Cooper-
ation between all government ministries and non-
government organisations is essential in the national
fight against AIDS,” he said.

The Ministry, Dr. Phairot said, has launched short-term
and long-term measures to prevent and control the
spread of AIDS, placing particular attention on AIDS
information and education campaigns as well as con-
dom-use promotion.

He said studies on condom use among female prostitutes
in 58 provinces have found that they use condoms more
than 65 percent of the time. Similar studies among
clients of prostitutes, who have attended venereal dis-
ease clinics in 51 provinces, found they used condoms
only 30 percent of the time.

This information suggests that while condom use con-
tinues to increase, much more work still needs to be
done, Dr. Phairot said.

More HIV Positive Cases in Northern Provinces

BK2207021391 Bangkok BANGKOK POST in English
22 Jul 91 p 3

[Text] The Public Health Ministry is setting up AIDS
control clinics in every district throughout the country in
order to intensify the fight against the deadly disease.

The ministry has instructed its offices in the provinces to
set up AIDS control clinics at all district-level hospitals,
particularly in areas where there are a large number of
prostitutes Public Health permanent secretary Uthai
Sutsuk said yesterday.

Health authorities have estimated that there are over
200,000 HIV positive cases in the country as the AIDS
virus has spread like wildfire among prostitutes, their
clients and the clients’ families.

Dr. Uthai said 44 percent of HIV positive cases reported
in June 1989 were found to be northern prostitutes, but
this had risen to 56 percent in December 1990.

Dr. Uthai said the percentage of men found to be HIV
positive had increased from 10 percent to 23 percent
over the same period.

He said most people were tested when they sought
treatment for venereal diseases.



34 WEST EUROPE

AIDS organisations said yesterday that this amounted to
a “backdoor ban” on those with the disease and said the
Government was being hypocritical by continuing to
insist that it placed no restrictions on people with HIV.

Dr. Patrick Dixon, director of AIDS Care Education and
Training, which provides care for HIV and AIDS
patients, said: “Asking visitors to ensure they have
appropriate financial cover to meet their own medical
costs seems common sense as long as it is applied
consistently to other illnesses.

“Six out of 10 women in London with AIDS are from the
African continent, which places the Government in a
terrible dilemma because it does not want to be seen as

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

discriminatory nor does it want people to use it as an
excuse to dismiss it as an African problem.”

Mr. Andrew Puddephatt,' director of Liberty (formerly
the National Council for civil Liberties), said that this
amounted to an invitation to immigration officers to use
their subjective prejudices to stop and harass people.

Free health care is given to European Community
nationals and some other countries which have a recip-
rocal arrangement with Britain, and to long-term immi-
grants who are “ordinarily resident.”

The Department of Health said yesterday that this was
not a backdoor ban and emphasised that the medical
inspectors’ report to immigration officers should not
explicitly mention the virus.



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PAG


JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

A total of 177 Bermuda residents have contracted
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome since the dis-
ease was first detected 10 years ago.

BOLIVIA

AIDS Figures Announced

PY1607184491 La Paz EL DIARIO in Spanish 2 Jul 91
p7

[Summary] AIDS Program National Director Maria
Luisa Melgar has reported that between 300 and 500
AIDS cases have been registered in Bolivia. The first
AIDS patient died in Oruro one week ago.

First Patient Diagnosed With AIDS Dies in Sucre

PY1307191691 La Paz PRESENCIA in Spanish
28 Jul 91 Second Section p 1

[Excerpt] Sucre, 27 Jun (PRESENCIA)—The first
patient infected with AIDS died on 26 June at the local
Santa Barbara Hospital amid strict health control mea-
sures. Hospital authorities said that the body of the
27-year-old man, who caught the disease in Brazil, will
be cremated. [passage omitted]

BRAZIL

AIDS Among Women Shifts from Drug Users

91WE0387B Brasilia CORREIO BRAZILIENSE
in Portuguese 3 May 91 p 6

[Text] The number of women in Brazil who contract the
AIDS virus through sexual intercourse already exceeds
the number of cases in which the disease was transmitted
through intravenous drug use, according to Health Min-
istry studies. Technicians in the field have come to the
frightening conclusion that AIDS should spread more
rapidly through the country, because the largest inci-
dence of the disease no longer occurs in a restricted
group—female drug addicts—and it now represents a
greater threat to the heterosexual population.

Eduardo Cortes, director of the AIDS division of the
Health Ministry, explained that the increase in infection
through heterosexual relations will also increase the risk
of transmitting the disease to unborn babies, the so-
called legion of future AIDS orphans.

“Women who have contracted the AIDS virus through
sexual intercourse are at risk of becoming pregnant and
infecting their babies. The risk of infection is one in
three; i.e., for every three women with AIDS, at least one
will infect her child. Last September we began to observe
that sexual transmission was overtaking infection
through drug use and was responsible for the increase in
cases,” declared the director of the AIDS division.

According to Cortes, the only way to avoid a tragedy in
the country is to get the population involved in the
ministry’s education campaign.

LATIN AMERICA 23

In the last 11 years, the AIDS division has registered
about 16,000 cases, making Brazil the country with the
third highest number of cases, exceeded only by the
United States and Uganda. Of the total number of cases,
14,641 victims are male and 1,622 are female. Sexual
intercourse is responsible for about 59 percent of the
cases, with 47 percent of them among bisexuals and
homosexuals and 12 percent among heterosexuals.

In 1988, infection through sexual contact was respon-
sible for 34 percent of AIDS cases among women, as
against 41 percent who were infected through drug use.
In 1989, needles were still the principal source of conta-
gion. Last year, however, the situation changed. In 35
percent of the cases, infection was laid to drug use, while
48 percent of the cases were the result of sexual inter-
course without any type of protection.

Regarding the source of infection in the cases that are
appearing now, Eduardo Cortes made a point of noting
that the infection occurred years ago. “The people must
become more aware; if they do not, the Brazilian society
will have the AIDS it deserves,” warned the director of
the AIDS division. In a survey conducted early this year
to evaluate the AIDS campaign, of 1,300 people inter-
viewed in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Recife, and Porto
Alegre, 58.7 percent responded that the principle mes-
sage of the campaign was to take preventive measures
and to exercise caution in sexual relations.

“To a second question on the same topic, 64 percent of
the respondents said that the principal warning of the
campaign was that people must be careful and that
anyone can catch AIDS. This is a very good sign,” he
said.

Massive Spread

A study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
(UFRG), one of the most highly regarded studies of
AIDS, found that 1 percent of the pregnant women in the
study were infected with AIDS. The figures from the
survey, which covered a universe of 1,000 women, even
further alarmed Hebert de Souza “Betinho,” president of
the ABIA (AIDS Interdisciplinary Association of Brazil),
who warned of a massive spread of AIDS in Brazil.

AIDS Rising in Sao Paulo’s Poorer Areas

91WE0407A Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO
in Portuguese 18 May 91 p 11

[Article by Mario Magalhaes]

{Text] For the first time, AIDS was the principal cause of
death among young people during a particular period in
a Sao Paulo district: it occurred in the group of people
between 20 and 29 years of age residing in Ipiranga, in
the southern zone, between May and September 1990.
This was the finding of a survey conducted by the
Pro-AIM [Program to Refine Mortality Statistics in Sao
Paulo Municipios], an organ of the Municipal Health
Secretariat.



SJPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991 3 AIDS

LATIN AMERICA
REGIONAL AFFAIRS
CANA Feature on AIDS Challenge to Region (Colin King; Bridgetown CANA, 7 Jul 91]
ANTIQUA AND BARBUDA

Reported AIDS Cases Not ‘True Reflection’ of Disease [Bridgetown CANA, 9 Jul 91] ......
BAHAMAS

Over 300 AIDS Deaths Recorded Since 1985 [Bridgetown CANA, 22 Jul 91] .....
Ratio of AIDS-Infected Men to Women Almost Equal /Bridgetown CANA, 1 Aug 91]

BERMUDA

Since 1981—145 AIDS Deaths; 177 Cases Diagnosed [Bridgetown CANA, 19 Jul 91] ...
BOLIVIA

AIDS Figures Announced [La Paz EL DIARIO, 2 Jul 91]
First Patient Diagnosed With AIDS Dies in Sucre /La Paz PRESENCIA, 28 Jul 91]

BRAZIL

AIDS Among Women Shifts from Drug Users Brasilia CORREIO BRAZILIENSE, 3 May 91] .... 23
AIDS Rising in Sao Paulo’s Poorer Areas
[Mario Magalhaes; Sao Paulo O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO, 18 May 91] .......

CHILE
AIDS Cases Over Eight Years Total 314 /Santiago Radio Chilena Network, 1 Aug 91]
HONDURAS
Minsap Reports 78 New AIDS Cases [San Pedro Sula LA PRENSA, 30 Apr 91]
Official Reports 418 AIDS-Related Deaths /Panama City ACAN, 4 Jul 91]
Health Ministry Reports Increase of AIDS [Paris AFP, I Aug 91] ....

JAMAICA

Official Estimates ‘Thousands’ Infected With HIV [Bridgetown CANA, 8 Aug 91] .....
PERU

Trujillo Reports 800 AIDS Cases /Lima LA REPUBLICA, 18 Jun 91]
URUQUAY
Twenty AIDS Deaths This Year /Madrid EFE, 26 Jul 91]
NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA
AFGHANISTAN
Doctor Details AIDS Laboratory’s Work [Zahir Ayobi; Kabul THE KABUL TIMES, 10 Jun 91] . 27
INDIA

More Positive HIV Tests in Calcutta /Calcutta THE STATESMAN, 4 Jun 91] .....
AIDS Problem Discussed at Bombay Meeting /Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA, 1.

27
28



10 CHINA

Health Ministry Holds Seminar on Fighting
AIDS Epidemic

0W2207133091 Beijing XINHUA in English
1214 GMT 22 Jul 91

[Text] Kunming, July 22 (XINHUA)—China has has-
tened activities to prevent and control AIDS since the
first case of the disease was reported in the country in
1985.

A recent national seminar in Kunming sponsored by the
Ministry of Public Health (MPH) reported that over 50
experts discussed effective measures for fighting the
disease.

Although China is amongst the countries with the lowest
number of reported AIDS cases in the world, its govern-
ment and the medical community have remained on a
constant alert since the first AIDS patient was diagnosed
at the Beijing Union Medical College Hospital in June,
1985.

Along with increasing international contacts and the
development of tourism, China is faced with the growing
threat of AIDS, which has been worsened in recent years
with the spread of drug trafficking.

According to MPH’s statistics, from 1985 to 1990 as the
result of blood tests administered to 480,000 people
throughout the country, 493 people were tested HIV
positive, five of whom were identified AIDS patients.

Eighty-three of the 493 persons were foreign, including
three AIDS patients.

Further studies have shown that blood transfusions or
sexual activities are major channels of spreading AIDS
in China, but no people were found to have inherited the
disease from their mother. An MPH official warned,
however, that “the possibility of this happening cannot
be ignored.”

China did not hesitate to join the world-wide anti-AIDS
campaign. In 1986, the MPH established an AIDS pre-
vention and control group. Shortly thereafter, the initi-
ation of a series of programs related to awareness,
education, and testing as well as research and profes-
sional training marked the beginning of the country’s
battle against one of the world’s most dreaded diseases.

In 1989, China passed “The Law to Prevent and Control
Infectious Diseases,” which classified AIDS and two
other venereal diseases—gonorrhea and syphilis—as
second grade infectious diseases.

In February 1990, a national AIDS prevention and
control commission and an expert committee were
formed to guide the work and supervise the nationwide
campaign against AIDS.

IJPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

At present, the MPH has three laboratories designed
specifically for AIDS research. In addition, each prov-
ince, municipality, and autonomous region has their
own organization to closely monitor developments
related to the disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided
over 300,000 U.S. dollars to China’s anti-AIDS cam-
paign, in addition to equipment, materials, training,
inspections, and international seminars.

The WHO has also assisted Chinese experts to develop a
detailed and comprehensive three-year program for
AIDS prevention.

The nation-wide anti-AIDS activities, which began from
the first World AIDS Day on December 1, 1988, have
awakened the awareness of the Chinese public con-
cerning the effects of the disease. As a result of various
media reports and exhibitions in cities such as Beijing,
Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangzhou, the Chinese people
not only learned how the disease is spread, but also
learned preventive measures.

In southwest China’s Yunnan Province, where the
largest number of HIV positive persons has been identi-
fied, over 1.6 million yuan has been earmarked for AIDS
prevention programs. The campaign extends from the
border areas to inland cities, including Kunming, Dali,
Baoshan, and Lincang, where anti-AIDS awareness pro-
grams operate hand in hand with the struggle against
drug trafficking and prostitution. The program is
extremely important since most AIDS victims in China
are drug addicts who became infected when sharing
needles to inject drugs.

The country has strengthened efforts to prevent other
venereal diseases which are regarded as a precondition
for the spread of AIDS. Informed sources say that the
incidence of venereal disease has increased dramatically
in many open cities over the past two years.

China now provides care programs for those who tested
HIV positive, and scientists have spared no effort in the
search for an AIDS cure. Their efforts have resulted in a
number of unique agents which are made from tradi-
tional Chinese herbal medicine, and which have proved
to be effective in checking the development of the AIDS
virus.

An official from the WHO said that China has an
excellent county- town-village epidemic prevention
system in rural areas, and that this factor will be of great
importance in curbing the spread of the AIDS virus. In
addition, the official said that such activities will be of
great benefit to mankind if the efforts to combat AIDS
are successful.

AIDS Cases Show Increase in Guangdong

HK2507122791 Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN
SHE in English 1118 GMT 25 Jul 91

[Text] Guangzhou, Jul 25 (HKCNA)—Authorities in
Guangdong have confirmed that seven people were



12 EAST ASIA

BURMA

Health Department Cites AIDS Cases in
1985-1991

BK2406085291 Rangoon Radio Burma in Burmese
1330 GMT 23 Jun 91

[Text] The Disease Control Division under the Health
Department has been conducting research on the reasons
for the spread of AIDS in the townships along the border
as well as in several townships inside Myanmar [Burma].

In Myitkyina and Bhamo, research data was collected
from people who are in prison for being intravenous drug
users as well as from the other intravenous drug users. Of

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

the 76,720 examined, 1,764 were found to be HIV
positive—2.29 percent of the total.

According to the report by that division, a survey on
AIDS was conducted in several townships in Myanmar
since 1985 and the first and only case was detected in
1988. Between 1985 and 1989, a total of 25,700 people
were tested for AIDS and 324 people were found to have
the disease—1.26 percent of the people tested.

In 1990, of the 45,700 people tested, 1,034 were found to
be HIV positive—2.26 percent.

In 1991, as of the end of March 1991, 718 out of 15,556
people tested were found to be HIV positive, consti-
tuting 4.6 percent of the total.

Breakdown of figures according to the year is as follows:

1989
Group People tested HIV Positive Percentage
Intravenous drug users 313 54 17.3
Pregnant women 1,107 none

1990:
Intravenous drug users 701 440 62.7
Pregnant women 514 5 0.9

1991 (Up to March):

Intravenous drug users 340 260 16.47
Pregnant women 330 1 0.3

The research found the number of people testing HIV
positive growing among intravenous drug users while the
number remained unchanged among pregnant women.

1989:
Group People tested | HIV Positive | Percentage
Blood donors 14,418 70 0.48
1990:
Blood donors | 38,700 | 193 =| 0.49
1991 (Up to March):
Blood donors [| 13,008 | 41 I 0.31

The research found that the number of HIV postive
blood donors remained constant and unchanged.

Between 1985 and January 1991, a total of 76,720 people
were tested for AIDS in Mandalay, Prome, Pegu, Pagan,
Taunggyi, Mergui, Tavoy, Moulmein, Keng Tung, Kaw-
thaung, Tachilek, Ma-ubin, Myitkyina, Bhamo, Pa-an,
and Yangon [Rangoon]. The tests were conducted
among homosexuals, prostitutes, people being treated
for venereal diseases, [risk group indistinct], patients at
hospitals, convicts, blood donors, intravenous drug
users, pregnant women, sailors, hospital workers, and
others who come in contact with HIV positive people.

Under the present circumstances, people with AIDS
have been detected in Yangon and other regions. So far,
the main cause of passing on the disease is through
intravenous drug usage. The number of HIV positive
cases among intravenous drug users, prostitues, and
homosexuals is on the rise.

From the rate of infection under study for the five-year
period—between 1985 and 1989—and in 1990, the
trend is expected to rise in the upcoming years. However,
research shows that the number of infected people
among the blood donors remained unchanged at 0.5
percent.

HONG KONG

Rapid Increase in AIDS Incidence Expected

WA267144591 Hong Kong THE HONGKONG
STANDARD in English 29 May 91 p 4

[Article by Ursula Yeung and Harald Bruning]

[Text] The number of AIDS sufferers in Hong Kong
could be as high as 2,000 by the turn of the century.

At present, there are 49 identified AIDS sufferers and
171 confirmed HIV infected cases in Hong Kong.



SJPRS-TEP-91-018

27 August 1991 2 AIDS
ZAMBIA
Health Ministry Confirms 4,690 AIDS Cases [Johannesburg SAPA, 6 Jul 91] 9
ZIMBABWE
Official on Tuberculosis Program, AIDS Johannesburg SAPA, 19 Jul 91]... 9

CHINA

Health Ministry Holds Seminar on Fighting AIDS Epidemic [Beijing XINHUA, 22 Jul 91]...
AIDS Cases Show Increase in Guangdong /Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE, 25 Jul 91] ..

EAST ASIA
BURMA

Health Department Cites AIDS Cases in 1985-1991 {Rangoon Radio Burma, 23 Jun 91].

HONG KONG
Rapid Increase in AIDS Incidence Expected
[Ursula Yeung, Harald Bruning; Hong Kong THE HONGKONG STANDARD, 29 May 91] -+++.++++ 12
KIRIBATI
First AIDS Victim Confirmed Melbourne Radio Australia, 23 Jul 91] 13
MALAYSIA
HIV Carriers Increase by 42 Percent to 1,212
[Kuala Lumpur Radio Malaysia Network, 2 Aug 91] ..... 13
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Health Report Reveals 21 AIDS Deaths [Melbourne Radio Australia, 12 Tul 1] sees 14
THAILAND
AIDS Detection Methodology, Trends Discussed
[Wichai Chokwiwat; Bangkok MATICHON, 30 Mar 91] ...... 14
Chiang Rai AIDS Survey, Public Education Efforts /Bangkok fi 1] 15
Epidemiology Chief Wants AIDS Notices Posted {Bangkok SIAM RAT, 13 Apr 91] ... 16
16

Doctor Views Phayao AIDS Situation, Countermeasures [Bangkok SIAM RAT, 19 Apr
Statistics Show AIDS Infection Among Teenage Students
[Bangkok BANGKOK POST, 19 Jul 91]... .~ 17

More HIV Positive Cases in Northern Provinces /Bangkok BANGKOK POST, 22 Jul 91] .. 17
Official—Over 32,000 AIDS Carriers in Country [Bangkok THE NATION, 30 Jul 91). 18
Health Ministry Says 247,000 May Have AIDS Virus [Bangkok THE NATION, 3 Aug 91) 18

VIETNAM
19

VNA Reports Continued Efforts Against AIDS Threat [Hanoi VNA, 8 Aug 91] .....

EUROPE
POLAND

WHO Will Fight AIDS in Poland /Warsaw RZECZPOSPOLITA, 16 Jul 91]...


JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

other European countries. Sweden has succeeded com-
paratively well in its restrictive narcotics policy. It is my
opinion that, in several of the countries where needles
are provided free of charge in large cities, this is a clear
sign of capitulation in the face of the extent of drug
abuse. Zurich and Amsterdam are two examples of such
large cities. The obvious next step would be to legalize
drug abuse and to provide drugs at little cost, in phar-
macies for instance. I believe that only a few extremists
feel that we should take this step in Sweden also, but the
needle-exchange programs that are difficult to defend on
the basis of infection prevention are dangerously close to
such a step.

The relatively quiet development within the HIV area in
Sweden is in marked contrast to conditions in many
other European countries. You only have to go to Den-
mark to find a considerably greater problem with AIDS.
The situation is even worse in such Mediterranean
countries as Italy and France. Currently around five
AIDS cases per week are reported in Denmark as
opposed to 1-2 cases in Sweden. As you go further south
the numbers increase remarkably. At the present time,
about 50 AIDS cases per week are reported in Italy and
about 85 cases per week in France.

Naturally, this situation in southern Europe carries with
it increased risk for Swedes who visit these countries and
have sexual contacts there. It must be noted that more
than half of the Swedes who have been infected through
heterosexual contacts, indicate infection abroad as the
most likely.

AIDS prevention has now reached a phase where we
must ask whether the great economic efforts being made
are aimed in the right direction. Today we find ourselves
in a phase of reappraisal where experience from the latter
half of the 1980’s must be carefully evaluated before new
preventive strategies can be designed for the 1990's.
These must be tailor-made for our own national needs
without peeking too much at any measures taken in other
countries.

Are there then some sectors in need of greater attention
when resources are allocated? Yes, the many HIV-
positive refugees and immigrants from highly endemic
countries must be better cared for than they are today,
both with initial information and long-term care. This is
of great importance, since new cases of HIV-infected
immigrants and refugees outnumber all new cases among
Swedes combined. Even though perhaps half of them will
not be permitted to stay but will be forced to return to
their own countries, a considerable number will be
allowed to stay in Sweden and must be given adequate
care in the form of information, medical advice and
follow-up.

Another risk group that has not been given enough
attention is the Swedes who travel abroad. A large
amount of information has been disseminated on the
risks of unprotected sex here at home, but the fact that
the risk for infection through sexual contact is more than

WEST EUROPE 33

doubled abroad has not been stressed adequately. There
should be an immediate focus on providing information
on the increasing risks for infection abroad.

Free Testing Offered

91WE0456B Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 25 May 91 p 8

[Press Wire Service, Inc. report: “Voluntary HIV Testing
for Immigrants”)

[Text] All persons entering Sweden will be offered HIV
testing on a voluntary basis. The authorities will not be
told the results; the usual secrecy will be observed.
Decisions on residence permits will not be affected if the
applicant is HIV infected.

The proposed guidelines for HIV and immigration have
been prepared by Bo Goransson, state secretary at the
Ministry of Labor. The document was recently given to
Social Minister Ingela Thalen.

The document clearly states that all tendencies towards
discrimination against HIV-infected persons must be
forcefully counteracted.

UNITED KINGDOM

Secret AIDS Watch on Visitors to UK

91WE0447 London THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
in English 7 Jul 91 p 1

[Article by Victoria Macdonald and Valerie Elliott]

[Text] Immigration officers are under secret orders to vet
visitors to this country whom they suspect have AIDS or
the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Sir Donald Acheson, the Chief Medical Officer, has
issued instructions to port medical inspectors to provide
immigration officials with an estimate of the cost of
treating a foreigner who has or “is suspected of having”
HIV or AIDS.

There is no indication of how the medical inspectors are
supposed to determine whether a person is infected but
yesterday AIDS organisations said it made a mockery of
the Government campaign emphasising that it is impos-
sible to tell if a person has the disease just by looking at
them.

The guidelines were sent out on 2 May and stressed that
the diagnosis should not in itself be considered justifica-
tion for a recommendation to prevent entry into Britain.

The orders add that if the medical inspector thinks an
entrant is likely to need medical treatment for AIDS or
HIV infection, an estimate should be made of the cost so
that the immigration service can determine whether the
visitor has the means to pay.



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

REGIONAL AFFAIRS

CANA Feature on AIDS Challenge to Region

FL0907155291 Bridgetown CANA in English
2024 GMT 7 Jul 91

[Article by Colin King]

[Excerpts] Bridgetown, Barbados, July 7, CANA—As the
Caribbean and the rest of the world face up to the
challenge of the AIDS epidemic, Barbados AIDS advisor
Professor Mickey Walrond wants more of his coun-
trymen to take the test for HIV exposure. Walrond
estimates that while 192 cases were recorded up to the
end of 1990, 300 to 500 Barbadians may now carry the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes
the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

In 1990, reported AIDS cases in the entire English-
speaking Caribbean and the Bahamas, Bermuda, and
Suriname, totalled 1,869 and the potential for rapid
growth in the number has generated increasing concern
Caribbean-wide.

“COURIER” the newsletter of the African, Caribbean,
and Pacific countries and the European communities, in
a special report on AIDS, observes that the “one really
efficient way of fighting the disease is to prevent it.” The
challenge to the Caribbean in the 1990’s is to continue
intensive prevention and control programmes, by mus-
tering health care requirements even in countries which
now have inadequate health care systems, COURIER
said. The newsletter cites World Health Organisation
(WHO) estimates of some eight million HIV carriers
worldwide, and at best, the distant prospect of a cure.

One AIDS treatment—AZT—is credited with retarding
the development of AIDS by up to three years. It is
already available to Barbadians who can afford it and
has been recommended to the Barbados Government for
inclusion in the national drug service either free or at
reduced cost. The treatment is expensive and if the
proposal is accepted by the government, it would cost
between 5,500 and 9,200 dollars (one Bds dollar = 50
U.S. cents) per person, for at best temporary remission of
the disease, according to Professor Walrond.

Meanwhile, the medical and research reports on AIDS in
the region and beyond, highlight the importance of
testing, and awareness and education programmes.

“... In one country in the region in 1989, in a study of
several hundred prostitutes, the prevalence (of HIV) was
about 20 percent; a more recent survey in a similar group
has shown a prevalence of 45 percent. Furthermore,
some of the world’s highest AIDS case rates are found in
the Caribbean,” COURIER newsletter reported.

“HIV appears to have been introduced into the Carib-
bean in the late 1970’s, mainly within the homosexual
and bisexual population with contacts in North Amer-
ica,” Elizabeth White of the Jamaica AIDS programme

LATIN AMERICA 21

reports in COURIER. Jamaica in 1982 reported the
English- speaking Caribbean’s first AIDS case, with
reported cases in 12 of the countries and Suriname by
1986, and in all 19 countries covered by Caribbean
Epidemiology Centre (Carec) by 1989.

No female AIDS cases were reported until 1985 (22 cases
in women and 11 in children), but the number has grown
quickly, reflecting a trend towards heterosexual trans-
mission (52.9 percent of 1,435 adult cases by this means
by 1989).

“.., Social pressures are such that many homosexual men
in the Caribbean marry and have children,” White said.

“This bisexual behaviour of men infected early in the
epidemic may have speeded up the process of hetero-
sexual spread which has been facilitated by the tendency
for both men and women to have multiple sexual part-
ners,” she said. [passage omitted]

The incidence of teenage sex and the high mobility of the
Caribbean population around the region and to North
America and Europe for social and economic reasons
also present dangers of HIV exposure and contraction of
the AIDS disease.

Medium term plans developed by several Caribbean
countries in 1988, with Carec and Pan American Health
Organisation/World Health Organisation help, placed
emphasis on prevention of transmission as the cure for
the AIDS epidemic. Five major strategies listed are;
surveillance; prevention of sexual transmission; preven-
tion of transmission through blood and blood products;
prevention of mother- child transmisson; and reduction
of the impact of HIV infection on individuals, groups,
and societies.

“The messages were similar throughout the Caribbean.
that prevention is the only ”cure“ for HIV/AIDS an
that using condoms and sticking to one faithful partner is
the only means of reducing the possibility of infection,”
White observes. [passage omitted]

Following are the reported number of new AIDS cases
each year (1986 to 1989) in selected Carec member
countries, total cases reported to March 1991 and totals
for all 19 Carec members. Total to March:

Country 1986 1987 1988 1989 1991
Bahamas 50 90 93 168 599
Barbados 21 24 15 40 192
Bermuda 21 21 28 35 178
Grenada 1 5 3 8 26
Guyana - 12 30 40 163
Jamaica 6 32 30 64 214
St. Vincent 2 6 7 6 30
Suriname 2 5 4 35 81
Trinidad 11 87 160 167 785
All Carec 186 306 379 573 2,398



Epidemiology
AIDS

JPRS-TEP-91-018 CONTENTS 27 August 1991
[This EPIDEMIOLOGY report contains only material on AIDS. Other epidemiology topics are covered in a later
issue.]
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ANGOLA

Lack of AIDS Awareness Worries Authorities [Helio Belik; Lisbon PUBLICO, 30 Jun 91
CONGO ;

Health Minister on Government Anti-AIDS Measures
[Brazzaville Voix de la Revolution Congolaise Network, 12 Jul 91]

KENYA

AIDS Drug Said Approved for Testing, Use

[Michael Otieno; Nairobi KENYA TIMES, 3 Jun 91] we. 2
Forged AIDS Test Certificates Said Available
[Muthuuri Nyamu; Nairobi KENYA TIMES, 27 Jun 91) .. 2
NAC: Job Applicant Screening Illegal /Murigi Macharia; Nairobi SUNDAY TIMES, 30 Jun 91] 3
MALAWI
Government Criticizes Report of ‘Chaos’ From AIDS [Johannesburg Radio RSA, 8 Jun 91]... 3
MOZAMBIQUE
Ministry Announces Official AIDS Figures [Maputo NOTICIAS, 6 Jul 91] .. 3
AIDS Prevention Taught in Displaced Persons Camps [Maputo NOTICIAS, 18 Jul 91] 3
Health Ministry—Number of Registered AIDS Cases 233 [Maputo Radio Maputo, 27 Jui 4

NIGERIA

Organization Launches AIDS Awareness Campaign /Luanda JORNAL DE ANGOLA, 3 Jul 9. 4
SOUTH AFRICA

Impact of AIDS on Work Force Worries Business Sector

[Johannesburg FINANCIAL MAIL, 24 May 91) ...
HIV Incidence Increasing at Baragwanath Hospital /Cape Town THE ARGUS, 28 May 91,
Institute Criticizes State’s, ANC’s Anti-AIDS Efforts [Johannesburg SAPA, 29 May 91] ...
KwaZulu Health Minister on Projected AIDS Mortality Rate [Johannesburg SAPA, 6 Jun 91]
Union Urges AIDS Awareness for Truck Drivers

[Jennifer Pogrund; Johannesburg THE WEEKLY MAIL, 14-20 Jun 91) ...
Health Minister Reveals 100,000 People HIV Positive

Wohannesburg South African Broadcasting Corporation Network, 9 Jul DT] ws
Health Department AIDS Statistics Show Transvaal Highest (Johannesburg SAPA,
Researcher Notes AIDS Deaths Predictions HMohannesburg SAPA, 6 Aug 91) ....

SWAZILAND

NAVA

ccc

Ten AIDS Cases Reported April - June /Mbabane Radio Swaziland Network, 31 Jul 91] .



JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

informed sources within the National Institute of Health
(NIH). The sources said that over 100,000 persons were
medically examined before March 1, 1991. Of these, 84
persons were found to be infected with this wicked
disease. Fourteen persons were in advanced stages of the
sickness and the remaining were found to have HIV
virus which causes AIDS. There were only four cases of
HIV in 1986. This number had increased to 12 in 1989.
Seven of these were in serious condition. This increase
continued and the NIH had 29 patients in 1990. Six
additional persons were found to have this virus and one
of them was suffering from AIDS. The causes of AIDS’
spread are blood transfusion, homosexuality, sharing
syringe needles, Pakistani mothers living abroad getting
infected, and foreign tourists. Over three million Paki-
stanis are living abroad and most of them live alone
leaving their families in Pakistan. Those who take their
families with them have the family members treated in
hospitals where the HIV is very common. The blood
collected by donors in Pakistan is not tested properly as
we lack the proper resources. Keeping in view the danger
AIDS poses, the government had started an AIDS con-
trol program in 1988 at the cost of 20 million rupees and
had made the NIH as the central administrative agency.
Anational AIDS committee with representation from all
the states has also been formed now. A short-term
program to fight AIDS has also been started. Nineteen
referral laboratories to test blood have been established
in large cities. All foreigners wishing to stay for more
than | year in Pakistan will be required to submit
documents certifying that they have no AIDS. Any blood
imported from abroad also must be certified for being
free of AIDS virus. The imported blood is screened at all
seaports and airports. However, non-government orga-
nizations are not doing anything to control AIDS. New
research has revealed that the AIDS virus which could
only live a few hours outside the body can live for about
24 hours. No vaccine has been invented to control its

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 29

spread yet and no treatment is available. The only
weapons against this disease are education, precaution,
and avoiding blood transfusion. The World Health Orga-
nization has identified 340,000 cases of AIDS patients
worldwide as of 1 March 1991.

SRI LANKA

Five-Year Plan Launched To Combat AIDS

BK1007095691 Colombo LANKAPUVATH in English
0850 GMT 10 Jul 91

[“OANA/pool” Item]

[Text] Colombo, July 10 (LANKAPUVATH)—Sri
Lanka has embarked on a five year plan to combat AIDS,
director of the anti-VD campaign Dr. G.N. Jayakuru
said.

He said many measures have been taken to fight this
highly dangerous communicable disease. Counselling
plays a vital role in this. A three-year plan together with
a five-year plan have been developed where UNDP
[United Nations Development Program] has provided
considerable financial aid. Surveys are conducted to find
whether the virus has entered the suspect’s body.

According to Dr. Jayakuru, nine foreigners are among 39
positive cases of AIDS that have been identified in Sri
Lanka. He further added that of 30 Sri Lankans having
AIDS, 10 had died, after having developed the full-
blown disease. Ten of the Sri Lankans had been infected
abroad.

The Sri Lanka anti-VD chief also said there were 800 to
1,000 carriers of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn-
drome. '



24 LATIN AMERICA

The incidence of AIDS has risen in the poorer districts of
Sao Paulo and declined in the wealthier ones. The latest
bulletin of the Health Secretariat states that AIDS is
shifting to the fringe population in Sao Paulo Municipio
and in the major centers. Only 9 percent of the families
in Ipiranga earn more than 30 times the minimum wage.
The district has a population of 290,000, according to
estimates of the Municipal Secretariat of Planning.

Se and Santa Efigenia

Pro-AIM also verified the advance of AIDS in other
districts. During the same period last year, in Casa da
Saude, a district close to Ipiranga, AIDS was the second
leading cause of death, close behind homicide, in the age
bracket from 30 to 39 years, with 10 deaths. In Ipiranga,
five people between 20 and 29 years of age died of AIDS.

In the last four years, AIDS victims have tripled in the
northern and eastern areas of the city, where the popu-
lation with the lowest socioeconomic profile is concen-
trated, and have doubled in the others. The highest

IPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

numbers of cases continues to occur in Se and Santa
Efigenia, in the Center, where less than 5 percent of the
families earn more than 30 times the minimum wage.

In Belenzinho, where 14 percent of the families earn
more than 30 times the minimum wage, the population
infected with the HIV virus rose 670 percent between
1988 and 1989, according to data from the AIDS
Referral and Treatment Center (CRT-AIDS), an agency
of the Health Secretariat.

In the Jardim America, where 42 percent of the popula-
tion has a family income higher than 30 times the
minimum wage, the opposite occurred. The incidence of
AIDS dropped from 21 to 12 cases for every 100,000
inhabitants. In Vila Mariana, the incidence dropped
from 32 to 26 and in Vila Madalena it declined from 9 to
5. Of the 307 new patients who sought out the CRT-
AIDS in the first two months of this year, only 10
percent had a higher education, whereas, three years ago,
more than half had attended a university.

AIDS Rising on the Fringes

The incidence of AIDS rises in poor neighborhoods and declines in wealthier ones

District 1988* 1989* More(%) Fewer(%) Income greater than
30 mw. (%)**

Se 130.33 159.33 22.0 : 447

Sta Efigenia 136.30 193.59 42.0 - 477

Ipiranga 18.14 24.97 38.0 - 9.14

Belenzinho 4.60 35.40 670.0 : 13.88

Cachoeirinha 47.81 63.14 32.0 - 2.34

Jardim America 20.97 12.29 - 41.0 42.22

Vila Madalena 8.65 SAL - 41.0 22.80

Vila Mariana 31.56 26.48 - 16.0 37.25

Capital 12.29 15.21 24.0 : 10.40

* Number of cases for each 100,000 inhabitants

** Family income greater than 30 times the minimum wage (%)

Source: Secretariat of State for Health and Municipal Secretariat of Planning

Shared Needles Drugs

Between June and November 1990, AIDS was respon-
sible for more deaths than homicide in the capital (912,
as against 688 homicide victims). In the same period,
one of every four deaths was AIDS-related. By the end of
March (1991), there were 6,833 reported cases of the
disease in the municipio, or 64 percent of all the cases in
the state. CRT-AIDS has initiated a study of the social
nature of HIV infections, which should be concluded by
the end of the year.

“The practice of sharing needles to inject cocaine is the
primary cause of the growth of AIDS in the poorer areas,
said public health physician Naila Santos, of the CRT.
Residents of upper-class districts tend to inject drugs in
private, which is more difficult on the fringes of society,
where drugs are shared and the needle is passed around.“

Intravenous drug use was responsible for 128 (or 31
percent) of the 409 AIDS cases reported in the first three
months of this year in Sao Paulo State. In 1987, only 27
percent of the cases were laid to this means of infection.
This year, 28 percent of the patients acquired the virus
through homosexual relations, 14 percent in bisexual
relations, and 17 percent in heterosexual relations. The
risk group that presented the highest rate of HIV positive
results were drug users (96.5 percent).

Pro-AIM classifies the cases of death reported in the
some 200 death certificates received daily by the Munic-
ipal Funerary Service. According to Margarida Azevedo
Lira, coordinator of the program, the death certificates
are later checked with the issuing physicians.



8 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The union feels strongly that its education programme
should be developed in consultation with its members,
and not imposed from above.

The issue is a highly sensitive one, says Seripe, and there
is denial and resistance from the workforce. “People see
AIDS as a political plot from the state and from man-
agement, or as a white or homosexual disease, or as a
result of sex across the colour bar. These prejudices need
to be addressed.”

Employers will be addressing AIDS issues in an industry-
wide seminar to be held next week. Pre-employment
testing and legal considerations are high on the agenda,
said a representative for the umbrella Road Freight
Association, which considers dealing with the AIDS
crisis a priority.

Health Minister Reveals 100,000 People HIV
Positive

MB0907172091 Johannesburg South African
Broadcasting Corporation Network in English
1600 GMT 9 Jul 91

{Text] The Ministers of Health and Welfare Services
from the six self-governing territories were today
informed of the latest assessment on AIDS at a meeting
chaired by the minister of national health, Dr. Rina
Venter in Pretoria.

A report issued to the ministers stated that it was
estimated that 100,000 people in the country were
already HIV positive and that by this time next year the
number was likely to be at least 200,000. Dr. Venter said
about half of those infected were likely to die within the
next 10 years.

A report on the distribution of medical doctors tabled at
the meeting revealed that whereas there was one doctor
for every thousand people in South Africa there was only
one for every 15,000 in the self-governing territories.

Health Department AIDS Statistics Show
Transvaal Highest

MB2507191091 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1843 GMT 25 Jul 91

[Text] Johannesburg July 25 SAPA—The number of
reported AIDS cases and fatalities in the Transvaal for
the past six months continued to top figures in other
provinces, it emerged from statistics supplied on
Thursday.

The Department of Health and Population Develop-
ment said there were 392 reported AIDS cases in the
Transvaal, 201 of which were fatalities.

Since the beginning of the year and up to July 18, the
country had 818 reported cases, 317 of which were
fatalities, with the Transvaal alone representing more
than half the fatalities.

JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

The Transvaal figure—both reported and fatalities—is
ahead of its closest “rival”, Natal, by 127 cases.

There were 265 reported cases in Natal, 31 of which were
fatalities.

In the Cape Province there were 136 reported cases and
72 fatalities.

Orange Free State 25 reported cases to 13 fatalities.

Johannesburg tops the list of major cities with AIDS
reported cases (253) and fatalities (139). There is also
separately on top of this the city of Soweto at 76 cases to
30 fatalities.

Close on the Johannesburg’s heels is Durban at 127 to 22
fatalities. The [Orange] Free State statistics are spear-
headed by Bloemfontein at 13 cases to seven fatalities.

The figures are also exceptionally high in kwaZulu where
they have 66 reported cases to no fatalities at all.

Researcher Notes AIDS Deaths Predictions

MB0608 184891 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1751 GMT 6 Aug 91

[Text] Durban Aug 6 SAPA—Sub-Saharan Africa will in
the next few years have 10 million AIDS orphans, Prof.
Rubin Sher of the SA [South African] Institute of Med-
ical Research predicted on Tuesday [6 August].

Speaking at the Fedhasa [Federated Hotel, Liquor, and
Catering Association] congress in Durban, he said
Africa—one of the designated AIDS “‘hot spots”—would
have a total of some 17 million AIDS cases by 1994.

The “worst case” projection for South Africa was that by
2006 about three million people would have died
because of AIDS.

There was little prospect of a vaccine before at least the
mid 1990s, Prof. Sher said. And even if one were
discovered, the virus mutated to such an extent that a
vaccine might not work in every part of the world.

There was also the problem of affordability of any
vaccine. “The rich Americans may well be able to afford
it, but what about the poorer parts of the world,” Prof.
Sher asked. Education remained the only “vaccine”.

He revealed an estimated 80 percent of prostitutes in
Africa had been infected, and truck drivers travelling
across the continent provided one of the most effective
ways of transmitting AIDS.

Condoms should be carried at all times to deal with what
Prof. Sher called a “sexual emergency”.

Discrimination of AIDS carriers [as received] in the
workplace was totally unjustifiable, he added.

Infected workers should only be judged on their mental
and physical capabilities. Even if infected, workers could
still be able to perform their job for up to 10 years.


JPRS-TEP-91-018
27 August 1991

found to be infected with the AIDS Virus in the first half
of this year. Four of them are foreigners, while the other
three are Chinese who returned home after visiting their
relatives abroad. Two of the infected persons have
already died. From this it can be seen that AIDS has now
begun to threaten this southern province.

Statistics show that 15 AIDS cases were discovered in
the period from 1986 to mid-June, 1991, and the number
of infected persons has tended to rise each year. Four of
these persons were residents of the province who were
found to have developed AIDS after returning from
visits to a Southeast Asian country. The other 12 persons
were residents from abroad who had come here to work,
study, marry or get medical treatment. Two of them have
since died. The infection in most cases was mainly
transmitted through sexual intercourse or blood transfu-
sions. An AIDS patient in the province said that during
a visit to see his relatives abroad, he had managed
prostitutes for his relative who ran a brothel. His sexual
partners were too numerous to be counted. Another

CHINA u

patient was infected through blood transfusions while
abroad. Sexual contact between several Guangzhou girls
and foreign carriers of the AIDS virus who came here as
students to study resulted in passing on the infection.

A great many people know little about AIDS, leading to
a wrong attitude towards those infected. The first resi-
dent in the province to be found to be suffering from
AIDS was shunned by his neighbours. Shops refused to
allow him to enter and his child was barred from school.
The feeling of isolation and abandonment forced the
family to move quietly to another place.

Experts have appealed to people in all walks of life, and
especially medical workers not to discriminate against
those suffering from AIDS or who are HIV positive.
Instead they should try to help them. The experts have
also warned the general public to avoid dangerous prac-
tices, thereby effectively blocking the main channel for
the spread of AIDS.