14 EAST ASIA

“Officially, nobody in Hong Kong is taking compound
Q,” said Dr. Lee Shui-shan, head of the Department of
Health’s AIDS prevention programme.

“But unofficially, there are people taking it.”

Dr. Patrick Li, of the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation,
confirmed: “I know of one patient who goes to the
(United) States to be injected with compound Q.”

Patients seeking treatment in Hong Kong were always
asked whether they were taking any other medication, he
said.

“If they ask about compound Q we tell them there could
be dangerous side effects that might affect their nervous
system and be fatal.

“If they are using it, we cannot say that they must stop
using it. We note it, and monitor their progress.

“I do not think any doctor in Hong Kong would be
willing to administer the drug.”

Li said that it was difficult to comment on the benefits
claimed for Q.

Initial successes were reported in boosting the body’s
immune system and the drug had passed the first stage of
FDA testing in 1990. It had attracted less attention since.

It was possible that the side effects were due to the
impurities—problems which might be overcome, he
said.

However, the drug had not featured to any great extent at
the last major international AIDS conference.

Li said that Q could come to be seen as an additional
treatment that might be valuable to patients.

But the AIDS sufferers who are currently risking their
lives at the underground clinics are more certain.

One sufferer Scott Powell, 35, who runs a monthly clinic
in New York, said: “I have had very good results on
compound Q.

“At first I suffered major difficulties—the side effects
can be fierce—but I rapidly built up tolerance.”

When he comes off the drug, AIDS takes over.

“My hair falls out, I lose weight, I become impotent—I
start to die.”

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

JAPAN

AIDS Sufferers, Carriers Increase to 553 in 1991

0W 2801135392 Tokyo KYODO in English 1321 GMT
28 Jan 92

[Text] Tokyo, Jan. 28 (KYODO)—The number of AIDS
sufferers and carriers of the HIV virus in Japan increased
238 during 1991 to 553, a government panel said
Tuesday.

The AIDS Surveillance Committee of the Health and
Welfare Ministry confirmed 38 new cases of AIDS
sufferers and 200 carriers last year. Both figures exclude
people infected through blood transfusions.

Committee officials said the number of new cases
involving foreign women, mainly from Southeast Asia,
jumped 5.8 times from 1990.

Of the 238 newly discovered patients and carriers, the
officials said, 123 were infected through heterosexual
intercourse and 38 via homosexual relations. The new
carriers include a newly born child who is believed to
have been infected through its mother.

The committee noted 105 foreign women and 40 foreign
men were cofirmed as sufferers or carriers, while there
were 76 Japanese men and 17 Japanese women.

Twenty-nine people, including people infected through
transfusions, died from AIDS in 1991, raising the total of
AIDS fatalities in Japan to 237.

SOUTH KOREA

Three More AIDS Cases in Jan

SK0102022492 Seoul THE KOREA HERALD
in English I Feb 92 p 3

[Text] Three men in their 20s have been found infected
with AIDS in January, according to the Health and
Social Affairs Ministry yesterday.

A ministry spokesman said that a 29-year-old man,
identified only as Cha, had been infected with the
acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus while
having sexual intercourse in a foreign country, while the
other two, aged 24 and 27, respectively, are homosexual.

Health Ministry Reports Nine AIDS Cases for
el

SK2902070292 Seoul YONHAP in English 0559 GMT
29 Feb 92

[Text] Seoul, Feb 29 (YONHAP)—The Health and
Social Affairs Ministry announced Saturday that in
February nine people tested positive for the virus that
causes AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome].


IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

and their minds, to relieve their sufferings, to prolong
their lives, and to help them live their lives in a better
way.

There are cliches about Muslims and Arab Muslims,
which circulate in the West. These legends say that we
are allegedly puritans, if not prudish, and are fanatic and
intolerant. That view does not seem to us to be fully
accurate. Every country has its zealots, its extremists, its
frustrated people, its figures of fun.

In a country that regards itself as democratic everyone
can present his or her point of view quite freely. Life then
makes the decision, and God will recognize his own
people. However, the overwhelming majority of the
people are not afraid of raising these questions with
frankness and openness.

The Arabic language reportedly has some 60 words to
express the various stages of love. This subject has been
discussed by the greatest Muslim teachers, the most
prestigeous judges, and the best known scholars.

Contrary to other religions, Islam rejects asceticism. A
good Muslim can enjoy licit pleasures. Certainly, the
Koran, which speaks of sexuality at length, condemns
and prohibits certain practices: adultery, homosexuality,
and prostitution, reminding us ceaselessly that God is
mild and merciful. [passage omitted]

AIDS Conferences to be Held Jan 31

LD2501165592 Rabat MAP in English 1243 GMT
24 Jan 92

Tangiers, Jan. 24 (MAP)—“Youth and AIDS” is the
theme of a series of conferences hosted by the Moroccan
northern city of Tangiers this January 31.

The Maghrebian society of Anti-AIDS research and
struggle which is organising the event has invited several
foreign and national renowned experts to speak on the
conferences, part of an information campaign to inform
people and the youngsters, in particular on the dangers of
the plague of AIDS.

PAKISTAN

Statistical Information on AIDS

92WE0220B Lahore NAWA-I-WAQT in Urdu
29 Dec 91 p 3

[News Report: “AIDS Exists in Pakistan; 105 Individ-
uals Found Infected with the Virus; The Number of
Patients Is Even Larger But They Hide the Fact Out of
Fear of Boycott; Doctors Should Prepare Themselves;
Most Are Not Acquainted With AIDS; The Government
Has Established Only 19 Centers for AIDS Screening for
a Population of 120 million; Dr. Suraya: AIDS Test
Centers should be Established in Every City and Every
Village”)

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 35

[Text] Lahore—Dr. Suraya Rashid, a professor at the
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said that
AIDS exists in Pakistan and that the disease is easily
preventable if the necessary precautions are taken. She
expressed these views to the NAWA-I-WAQT correspon-
dent during a local seminar on AIDS arranged by the
Punjab blood transfusion organization. Referring to a
research study on AIDS conducted in Pakistan she said
that out of 200,000 individuals tested, 105 were found to
be infected with the AIDS virus and 18 suffering from
AIDS. She said that the actual number of AIDS patients
was larger but most of them kept their disease a secret
out of fear of social boycott. She said that AIDS existed
in Pakistan and those who denied it were illogical and
unscientific. Expressing dissatisfaction with the AIDS
prevention measures undertaken so far by the medical
sector, she said that the majority of doctors in Pakistan
were not acquainted with the reality of this disease; thus
it was necessary for the medical community to prepare
for the prevention and control of this dangerous disease
by referring to the latest research on the subject. She
explained that the disease was caused by a virus and
spread by means of blood or other matter (and especially
through sexual contact). She said that AIDS could be
tranmitted in various ways from a person infected with
the virus or suffering from the disease to a healthy
person; it was thus necessary to observe precautions
during blood transfusion because the AIDS virus could
be transmitted to a healthy person through blood trans-
fusion or the repeated use of syringe needles; that if
blood transfusion was needed, it was necessary for AIDS
prevention to make sure that the blood used was free of
infection; that disposal needles should be used for giving
injections and that these precautions should be observed
also while traveling outside the country. Dr. Suraya
criticized the government of Pakistan for the fact that
there were only 19 AIDS screening centers in the
country, a grossly insufficient number for a population
of 120 million people. She stated emphatically that the
government should provide facilities for blood screening
(for AIDS) to every individual in every city and village in
order to prevent the transmission of AIDS through blood
transfusion. In regard to AIDS patients, Dr. Suraya said
that AIDS patients should not be discriminated against
socially or psychologically but should be treated like
other sick people; that if AIDS patients feared social
boycott, they would hide their disease and thus pose a
greater danger to the people at large.

Editorial Views Concerning Spread of AIDS

92WE0220A Lahore NAWA-I-WAQT in Urdu
30 Dec 91 p 10

[Editorial: “AIDS in Pakistan!”]

[Text] According to a report, Dr. Suraya Rashid, a
professor at the University of Southern California, has
said that the lethal disease AIDS exists in Pakistan and
105 individuals have been found harboring the virus.
The number of AIDS infected individuals in Pakistan is
even larger, but the majority of them do not report it out



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

and seek employment in the diamond industry and the
art-silk powerloom units which have employed lakhs of
single men.

The SCA has warned the citizens and the authorities
about the proliferation of skin and venereal diseases in
this city which has gained notoriety because of a flour-
ishing flesh market.

The SCA chief, Dr. Girish Shah, a leading dermatologist,
said that nearly 25 percent of those seeking dermatolo-
gists’ services turn out to have contracted some form of
the virulent venereal diseases which plague this city.

Several alleged quacks posing as sexologists stay in the
hotels here and advertise in the vernacular dailies guar-
anteeing cures for the venereal diseases. The numbers of
those opting to be treated by the so-called doctors cannot
be ascertained.

As admission to nurseries in elite schools requires dona-
tions of between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 and single
room accommodation requires a deposit of astronomical
sums of money, children are a luxury which the working
class sometimes find beyond their means.

Reports emanating from Ahmedabad last year claimed
that Surat had over 4,000 HIV positive cases, the highest
in Gujarat. The claim has since been hotly contested by
the doctors’ fraternity as mere poppycock. However, a
senior dermatologist in the city has claimed to have
come across two full-blown AIDS patients.

The SCA underscores the need to have full-blooded V.D.
clinic and facilities at different parts of the city to
provide help and education to the youngsters on the need
to have safe sex. ‘Banning prostitution is an ideological
farce; one should rather try to wean youngsters away
from sexual promiscuity and reduce brothel hopping,”
opines a social worker who is also a corporator.

“We have a skin-V.D. clinic at the Maskati hospital. If
people do not make use of it, it is not the Surat
Municipal Corporation’s fault,” contends deputy com-
missioner (health), Dr. S. K. Mohanty. He admits literate
people of middle-class status feel shy to seek medical
help from the municipal-run clinic.

The perfunctory attitude of the municipal clinic staff and
the shabby treatment meted out to patients would
remove doubts in the minds of any as to why people
prefer private clinics to public ones though the former
charge anything between Rs 50 and Rs 100 a visit
excluding medicines.

Not many realise the mental torture suffered by those
having V.D.-AIDS-phobia, points out Dr. S. M. Amin, a
senior psychiatrist here.

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 31

Rise in AIDS in West Bengal, More Cases Feared

92WE0248A Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH in English
13 Dec 91 p 6

{Article by Charles Nandi: “WHO Warns WB on AIDS
Cases”)

[Excerpt] Calcutta, Dec. 12: The World Health Organi-
sation (WHO) has warned that West Bengal faces an
alarming rise in the number of AIDS cases due to
inadequate medical facilities.

In a message to the state government, the WHO said
West Bengal is threatened with an alarming rise in AIDS
cases because of “weak health infrastructure and lack of
health education in the state.”

Altogether 26 people, including six prostitutes and six
professional blood donors, have developed AIDS symp-
toms in the city. According to Dr. Manish Chakraborty,
head of the department of virology at the School of
Tropical Medicine, 22,000 people, mostly prostitutes,
had already been affected and were in the high-risk
group.

“Testing of blood samples for HIV is being stepped up
with financial assistance from the WHO, which also
stresses upon educating and screening blood donors to
make the AIDS contro! programme more effective,” he
said.

Dr. Chakraborty said the authorities were concerned at
the large number of “sero-positive” cases among the
city’s prostitutes. “We are distributing contraceptives
among them and till now about 60,000 condoms have
been given,” he said.

He said another disturbing trend was that five haemo-
philac children had been infected by the AIDS virus
during blood transfusion.

However, with the disease steadily gaining a foothold in
the state, the authorities are yet to gear up preventive
measures.

Despite assistance from the WHO and the Centre, the
state government has not yet been able to find out the
exact number of prostitutes with sero-positive symp-
toms. “We are still at an early stage in this matter,” a
senior health official said. [Passages omitted]

Spread of AIDS in Manipur Causes Alarm
92WP0144 New Delhi PATRIOT in English 3 Jan 92
pl

[Article by Kishore Seram: “Aid Them Before AIDS
Gets Them”)

[Text] “It could be the end of the dine for the State of
Manipur, in the next to years.” [as printed] This
doomsday scenario is not an exaggerated projection of a
panic-stricken population threatened by AIDS. It is a



40 CENTRAL EURASIA

(19.0 and 20.6 percent). Attitude depended on the
pathway by which infection occurred for 4.3 percent of
the boys and 1.8 percent of the girls: They are compas-
sionate of those who were infected during blood trans-
fusion or by nonsterile syringes in medical institutions,
and negative or intolerant of persons infected by the
sexual pathway. 6.8 and 4.4 percent could not identify
their attitude toward HIV-infected persons and AIDS
patients, Analysis of the data with respect to sex revealed
that the opinions of boys and girls hardly differ.

Sex had a significant influence on the responses of
respondents in the main group. The opinions of girls in
the main group differed significantly. Among the girls,
there were almost 1.5 times more who were compas-
sionate of HIV-infected persons (79.8 percent), the
number who described their attitude as negative was
more than three times less (6.0 percent), the number who
were indifferent was three times less (5.7 percent), and
the number whose attitude depended on the pathway by
which infection occurred increased by almost three times
(5.0 percent).

Differences in the responses of the boys of both groups
were insignificant (p > 0.1).

Of interest is the dramatic difference between the atti-
tude expressed toward AIDS patients and infected indi-
viduals by boys and girls of the main group. The girls
were compassionate more often than boys (p < 0.001),
and they were negative (p < 0.06) and indifferent (p <
0.01) more rarely, but their attitude depended more
often on the infection pathway (p < 0.05).

However, the responses to question 8 of the survey
showed that the attitude toward AIDS patients in general
does not always reflect attitude toward a particular
individual. We asked the respondents to imagine that
one of their acquaintances had fallen ill or became
infected with AIDS, and to answer the question “What
would your attitude toward a person become on learning
that he has AIDS?” According to the responses only 39.5
percent of the boys and 40.4 percent of the girls in the
control groups would have changed their attitude. Con-
tact would have been limited by 38.7 and 45.1 percent.
The response “I would break all contact” is given signif-
icantly more often by boys (15.1 percent as opposed to
8.7 percent; p < 0.01). 6.7 percent of the boys and 5.8
percent of the girls answered that they could not imagine
such a situation, giving answers such as “This never
happened to me” and “I don’t know.”

A difference was discovered between the opinions of the
groups. Girls of the main group who attended the lecture
responded more often than girls of the control group that
their attitude would have remained the same (62.8
percent as opposed to 40.4 percent; p < 0.001), and they
answered that they would “limit contact” more rarely
(26.6 percent as opposed to 45.1 percent; p < 0.001).
The answer “I would break all contact” was given
identically often by girls of both groups (8.7 percent as
opposed to 7.1 percent; p > 0.1). In comparison with the

IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

control group, the opinions of boys in the main group
differed significantly only in relation to one variant of
the responses: There were fewer among them who would
have broken all contact (2.5 percent as opposed to 15.1
percent; p < 0.01). There were many more girls than
boys in the main group who would have changed their
attitude (p < 0.05), and there were correspondingly
fewer girls who would have limited contact with HIV-
infected individuals (p < 0.05). However, there were
more girls among those who would have broken all
contact with a person on learning that he has AIDS (p <
0.1).

Thus although most of the respondents have the correct
impression of the pathways of the infection’s transmis-
sion ', in reality the attitude toward persons infected
with HIV does not correspond to level of knowledge:
Unjustified fears of HIV exist. Not only the fear of AIDS
but also the belief that only persons in groups character-
ized by asocial behavior suffer AIDS has an effect on the
attitude toward patients. The respondents do not asso-
ciate their behavior personally with the danger of
catching AIDS by the sexual pathway. But according to
data of our laboratory, representatives of the risk groups
(homosexuals, bisexuals, prostitutes) make up less than
half of the total number of persons infected with HIV
sexually. Consequently it must be shown in public health
education that AIDS is everyone’s problem, and not just
of representatives of risk groups. An effort must be made
to surmount the wrong idea that only persons who
behave immorally get AIDS.

Our research showed that despite a rather high aware-
ness of the pathways by which HIV infection is trans-
mitted ', most of the respondents in the control group
have a negative attitude toward AIDS patients and
persons infected with HIV. The attitude toward HIV-
infected persons in the group that attended the lecture
was different: It was more tolerant and compassionate.
Thus explaining the pathways of the infection’s trans-
mission is not enough to form a compassionate and less
prejudicial attitude toward HIV-infected persons. We
cannot maintain the hope that if the population under-
stands the pathways by which HIV spreads correctly, this
will automatically lead to a more tolerant attitude of
AIDS victims. The responses of persons in the experi-
mental group who attended the lecture indicate that a
more humanitarian attitude towards AIDS patients
could be developed, that there is a need for constant
explanatory work directed at shaping a nondiscrimina-
tory attitude toward the victims of this disease.

Bibliography

1. Pokrovskiy, V. V. and Mozharova, G. I., ZHURN.
MIKROBIOL., 1990.

2. Coldsmith, M. F., J. A. M., Vol 260, No 6, 1988, pp
757-758.


8 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

in the incidence of the disease, adding that the television
program would also need further strengthning.

Urging the participants to share the skills and experi-
ences they shall have attained from the workshop, Dr.
Mbambo added that public health education was our
major weapon in the absence of a cure, or vaccine for
AIDS, which he said was posing a serious threat to the
survival of mankind.

TANZANIA

Health Minister Reports Increase in AIDS

EA0402125092 Dar es Salaam Radio Tanzania
External Service in English 1600 GMT 3 Feb 92

[Text] The minister of health, Professor Philemon
Sarung’i, says cases of the Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome, AIDS, in the country have increased by over
15 percent in six months. Prof. Sarung’i said the reported
cases reached 31,463 by November last year from a total
of 27,396 cases last June.

Opening a week-long AIDS control workshop organized
by the African Medical Research Foundation, AMREF,
in Dar es Salaam today, Prof. Sarung’i said by the end of
1991, over 80,000 people in the country were estimated
to be infected by HIV that causes AIDS.

The minister said that AIDS victims were mainly in the
sexually active group, which constitutes 39.4 percent of
the country’s population of between 15 and 44 years of
age.

ZAMBIA

AIDS Illnesses Occupy 30 Percent of Beds

92WE0268A Lusaka SUNDAY TIMES OF ZAMBIA
in English 1 Dec 91 p 1

[Text] Bed occupancy in Zambia’s main hospitals for
AIDS-related illnesses has reached an alarming rate of 30
percent nation-wide.

Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Katele Kalumba said this
at the launching of the World AIDS Day whose theme is
“sharing the challenge” at Chilenje urban health center
in Lusaka yesterday.

Dr; Kalumba said although the reported HIV and AIDS
related deaths stood at 1,535, the true picture was only
brought home by the tragic AIDS-related loss of loved
ones families experienced everyday.

He said one only had to go to the cemetery and count
how many loved ones have been buried under “that
crowded city of the dead in the last month or two.”

And World Health Organization (WHO) regional
director for Africa, Dr. Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso has

JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

said that there was need for families and communities to
unite, more than before in the prevention and control of
AIDS.

Health Minister on Hospitals’ Admission of
AIDS Patients

MB2802074092 Lusaka TIMES OF ZAMBIA

in English 13 Feb 92 p3

[Text] The Minister of Health has issued orders to
restrict admission of AIDS patients to serious cases only
to ease congestion in wards and protect vulnerable
patients from other diseases.

The ministry has instead resorted to intensifying the
home care programme which was to be broadened to a
national level so patients could be attended to at their
homes and hospitals to deal with serious cases only,
Deputy Health Minister Dr. Katele Kulumba said.

In an interview yesterday he said AIDS patients alone
accounted for 30 percent of beds at the University
Teaching Hospital (UTH) making it extremely difficult
for hospital authorities to accommodate patients suf-
fering from epidemics such as dysentery and cholera.

“Tt’s not a ban but a mere restriction on admissions of
AIDS patients in a bid to pull down soaring costs and do
away with congestion in wards. The ministry is alterna-
tively broadening operations of the home-care pro-
gramme so that it reaches all parts of Zambia.”

AIDS patients with “opportunistic diseases” which were
minor would be attended to by health staff from homes.

And the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called
for action directed at women, children and adolescents
as a global strategy yesterday.

The WHO executive board recommended the adoption
of the 1992 update of the global AIDS strategy which
proposes better treatment and prevention for other sex-
ually transmitted diseases.

“There is need for greater focus on prevention of HIV
infection through improvement of women’s health, edu-
cation programmes, greater emphasis on the public
health dangers of stigmatisation and discrimination, and
increasing emphasis on care,” the statement read in part.

The board has signed a $2 million medical contract with
Roche International of Switzerland for supply of chem-
istry and haematology equipment and reagents.

A spokesman said most of the ‘equipment had arrived in
Zambia and experts from Roche and France would come
to conduct training’ sessions for local medical technolo-
gists in operations and maintenance of the equipment
from February 17-22.

Government is to consider privatising the dental sector
with a view to improving operation standards.


50 CENTRAL EURASIA

Interview With Armenian AIDS Center Director

92WE0278C Yerevan EPOKHA in Russian No 3,
16 Jan 92 p 13

[Interview with Mikhail Aleksanyan, director of the
republic AIDS Prevention Center, by Em. Mkrtchyan;
place and date not given: “Is AIDS a Threat to Us?”]

{Text] AIDS does exist, and it is terrorizing our civiliza-
tion. But at the same time our reaction is as if it doesn’t
exist among us, in our environment, at least in Armenia.
Passions have abated after that minor case, so carefully
concealed in the past, of a student from Yemen who
contracted AIDS. The student was evicted from the
republic, and on that the subject was closed.

Mikhail Aleksanyan, director of the republic AIDS Pre-
vention Center, told us that there is only one patient
registered in the republic today: a middle-aged man, a
rather intelligent and modest person. He is easy to work
with. Suffering deep psychological stress, this person is
finding the strength to fight the disease, and he under-
stands the entire depth of the responsibility placed upon
him by the physicians treating him and the society. This
patient, whose name is being kept absolutely secret for
understandable reasons, is at home under the constant
attention of loved ones and relatives. All of the necessary
conditions have been created for him.

Mkrtchyan: Mikhail Ashotovich, can it be said that the
AIDS problem does not exist in Armenia?

Aleksanyan: Not at all. This problem exists everywhere,
including in Armenia. If only one case has been revealed
thus far, tomorrow there may be more of them. Our task is
to keep this from happening. This problem must be attacked
not only by our health care system but also by the entire
society. However, our society is totally unprepared for this.
And in turn, we are unable to act upon this situation.

Mkrtchyan: Are you saying that there are no guarantees
that outbreaks of infection will not occur in Armenia as
they did in Rostov and Elista?

Aleksanyan: First of all, we cannot force every nurse to
properly sterilize instruments, nor can we make a nurse
use disposable syringes only once, and not sell them at
speculative prices. Each year the republic receives over
10 million disposable syringes, but still that’s not
enough. And even if they are available, this does not
solve the problem, in the same way that their availability
is not solving the problem in developed countries for the
moment, where there are no shortages, and all the more
so of disposable medical instruments.

Mkrtchyan: The West is making an enormous effort to
maintain records on and provide preventive treatment
to people in the so-called risk groups. They are studying
public opinion, and doing a great deal of work to
acquaint young people with the AIDS problem. What
about in our country?

JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Aleksanyan: I don’t think you’ll find a single homosexual
or prostitute who doesn’t conceal his weakness or the
nature of her occupation from society, when both are
persecuted not only by public opinion but also by the
law. Twice a year we examine drug addicts, but only
those who have been registered. In the meantime their
majority are beyond our reach. In a word, we have no
access to all these people, and we will not have it until
this problem is resolved by law. We are thinking quite
seriously about proposing to the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and the republic’s Ministry of Justice to at least
begin solving these problems.

Moreover not only are we deprived of the possibilities
for working among high risk groups, but we also have no
idea of the overall situation regarding the attitude of our
society, and especially the young, toward the AIDS
problem and sexual behavior. How aware are our young
people of the preventive methods, and what is the size of
the sexual minorities in the republic? We can only guess
at the answers. We need serious sociological studies,
ones which our center is simply unable to finance
because so little money is allocated to it.

Mkrtchyan: Are we threatened by AIDS from abroad?

Aleksanyan: This is also a very serious problem, since it has
recently become much easier for citizens to travel abroad.
Contacts between the republic and other countries will
widen with time, and this is where we need to be on guard.
Unfortunately we are deprived of the possibilities for mon-
itoring these people today. I think that this issue must be
resolved as soon as possible with the help of the Visa and
Registration Department. All who cross the border into our
republic, whether on business or vacation, whether they are
ours or not, should undergo AIDS testing. Without this, and
without the conditions I listed above, any talk of guarantees
would be silly.

Official Gives Data on AIDS Sufferers

LD1602124292 Moscow Teleradiokompaniya
Ostankino Television First Program Network
in Russian 1500 GMT 13 Feb 92

Report by N. Ivanov on data issued by Russian State
tatistics Committee—from the “Novosti” newscast TAGS]

[Excerpt] [Video shows shopping scenes, news confer-
ence, document entitled: The socio-economic situation
of the Russian Federation in 1991] The number of
citizens infected with the AIDS virus as of 1 January
1992 was 518. [passage omitted]

Officials Release Odessa AIDS Statistics

LD1702145692 Kiev Radio Kiev in English 0100 GMT
17 Feb 92

[Text] The Ukrainian city of Odessa remains to be the
leader in Ukraine as for the number of AIDS patients.
Officials of the local department for health care explain
that this is primarily due to the fact that Odessa is an
international seaport and thousands of foreigners come
to that city by sea. As a result, lately 38 people have been
infected by the virus. Three of them, they are children,
have already died.


48 CENTRAL EURASIA

Section II Procedures for Medical Screening for HIV
Infections. Medical Screening, Patient Monitoring and
Prevention

Article 6. The citizens of Ukraine, other countries and
stateless persons who reside or visit Ukraine have the
following rights:

—to medical diagnosis of HIV infection and
examination at specialized clinics;

—to results of the medical studies and recom-
mendations as to AIDS prevention.

These rights are supported by expert medical ser-
vices and a network of health facilities dedicated to
AIDS diagnosis and prevention.

The patients are guaranteed safe medical care, ano-
nymity and confidentiality by the medical establish-
ments.

Article 7. Individuals legally proven to engage in
prostitution or to be addicted to injectable drugs are
subject to compulsory medical screening for HIV
infection.

Other individuals may also be subjected to compul-
sory medical evaluation on epidemiological
grounds.

Article 8. Foreign citizens and stateless persons
entering Ukraine for education or work reasons are
subject to compulsory medical screening for HIV
infection. Exemptions are granted only in cases
bearing appropriate foreign health certificates recog-
nized by Ukraine on the basis of bilateral agreements.

Member of foreign diplomatic corps entitled to
diplomatic immunity and other priviliges are
exempt from screening unless they so request.

Article 9. Information on individuals with HIV infec-
tion or AIDS is regarded as a state secret protected by
law.

Such information can only be made available to
legal representatives of the individual, medical
institutions, court officers, prosecutors, special
investigators and other legally constituted authori-
ties.

Article 10. Designated medical services are respon-
sible for the health care and preventive monitoring of
Ukrainian citizens, foreign nationals, and stateless
persons with HIV infection (carriers and diseased) on
Ukrainian territory.

Article 11. Guidelines for medical screening, care,
prevention and monitoring of HIV-infected cases will
be developed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and
confirmed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine.

IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Article 12, HIV-infected foreign national and stateless
persons are subjected to administrative deportation in
accordance with the law.

Foreign nationals or stateless persons with a spouse
who is a Ukrainian citizen are exempt from depor-
tation.

Section III Responsibilities of HIV-Infected Individuals
Subject to Medical Monitoring for AIDS

Article 13. HIV-infected persons subject to compul-
sory medical screening are required to report to health
facilities in response to written medical summons.

Failure to comply without valid reasons will lead to
a court ordered restraint by the militia for remand
to a local health facility. The legal order must not
mention the medical condition.

The person in question may request a court hearing
to dispute the medical diagnosis.

Article 14, HIV-infected Ukrainian citizens, foreign
nationals and stateless persons who are on Ukrainian
territory at the time of diagnosis are required to
respond to medical summons for medical manage-
ment. In case of noncompliance sanctions specified in
the second part of Article 13 will apply.

Article 15. Persons informed by medical authorities
that they are HIV-positive, informed about prevention
and warned that deliberately transmitting the infec-
tion to others or placing them at risk constitutes
criminal activity are required to acknowledge receipt
of information in writing.

Article 16. HIV-infected persons and AIDS patients
have the following obligations:

—to employ means to prevent the spread of the
infection in accordance with medical instruc-
tions; and

—to advise sexual contacts to report the possi-
bility of infection.

Section IV Social Rights of HIV-Infected Persons, AIDS
Patients and Family Members

Article 17. HIV infected persons and AIDS patients
who are Ukrainian citizens, foreign nationals and
stateless persons in Ukraine have the right to:

—humane treatment without denigration;

—confidentiality of their medical condition if
their lifestyle and work do not place others at
risk;

—compensation for losses sustained due to lack
of confidentiality regarding their HIV infec-
tion;

—professional activity, excluding exempted spe-
cialties and positions;



54 WEST EUROPE

Last night, Dr. Peter Ormerod, secretary of the Joint
Tuberculosis Committee, which advises the Govern-
ment on the disease, said guidelines were being prepared
for health workers on TB and HIV infection.

The committee is planning a Tuberculosis Notification
Survey next year to discover patterns in the spread of the
disease, although Dr. Ormerod said it would take two or
three years for any clear picture to emerge.

In 1989, 5,164 people were recorded as having the
disease—a 6.8 percent increase on 1988.

Until then TB was largely a forgotten disease, associated
with Victorian England and the high-winged collars
thought to have been invented to cover the scars.

The World Health Organisation’s Tuberculosis Unit has
begun a global TB programme as figures show that
worldwide, one in three adults has been infected with the
tubercle bacillus, with 10 million people a year going on
to develop the disease and three million a year dying.

Dr. John Grange, Reader in Microbiology at the Royal
Brompton Hospital in London, said yesterday that
unlike other HIV-associated infections, TB could be
transmitted to other people.

In London, 6 percent of HIV patients have been diag-
nosed as having TB.

In New York, TB is said to be out of control with an
increasing number of patients developing forms of the
infection that are resistant to the usual drugs.

In November, more than 4,000 cases were reported
compared with 3,520 for the rest of 1991. Of those, one

IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

in five was resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, the
standard drugs used to treat TB.

Dr. Dixie Snider, director of the TB elimination division
of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, said the
disease was first found in young blacks and Hispanics
but was now being picked up in young children and
among workers caring for AIDS patients.

Unlike Britain, America has no national vaccination
programme and there has been little suggestion that one
should be introduced. Dr. Snider said it was a “political
rather than medical issue.”

He said that BCG—the vaccination given to children in
this country—was being administered to those in high-
risk categories. Patients found to have drug resistant TB
are being isolated.

Doctors are also checking health records for all cases of
TB to find people who have come in to contact with the
patient.

In Britain Doctors say an epidemic is highly unlikely
because there is not the same degree of poverty, injecting
drug use and there are far fewer HIV and AIDS patients.

TB can lie dormant for years with its victims never
knowing they have it until it flares up. The most
common form is pulmonary TB which affects the lungs
but it can be found in other organs.

It is largely curable but in patients with defective
immune systems it can kill.

Dr. Grange said part of the problem was that people had
lost interest in TB. “Now the disease has sparked off
again and while it is never going to get like New York,
surprising things do happen.”


SJPRS-TEP-92-005
46 CENTRAL EURASIA 11 March 1992
AIDS Cases on Rise in Belarus To date, 68 people with HIV virus have been picked up in

92WE0218A Minsk SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA
in Russian 30 Nov 91 p 2

{Article by V. Glazovskiy, chief physician at Republic
Center for AIDS Prevention and Control, first two
paragraphs are SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA intro-
duction]

[Text] One should not say that “This is not a threat for
me.” Each and everyone of us is in the risk group.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the first cases,
later diagnosed as AIDS, recorded in the United States.
At that time, at the very beginning, the potential scope of
the epidemic disaster was greatly underestimated, if not
denied entirely. At present, a decade later, the global
epidemic (pandemic) is still at the early stage of its
development, and it is difficult to assess its probable
extent; however, it is already quite apparent even to a
specialist that AIDS is an unprecedented threat to the
health and life of people on earth.

Any publication of statistics on AIDS victims becomes
obsolete immediately, since their number is growing
very rapidly. At the present time, the United States of
America is in the lead with respect to incidence of the
disease, with already more than 120,000 deaths and over
1.5 million people infected with the HIV virus. The US
is followed by East and Central Africa, where there are
villages in which all of the inhabitants have expired.

As to the West European countries, France, Unified
Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria have been stricken
the most. Whereas in East Europe, South-East Asia and
Oceania the AIDS pandemic is only beginning to reap its
terrible harvest.

It is projected that, by the year 2000, the number of
people infected with HIV virus in the world will reach 30
million men, women and children. The mortality rate for
the age groups from 20 to 49 years will rise by several
times. Such development of the epidemic could cause
social and economic upheavals and lead to political
destabilization of countries that are seriously affected by
the epidemic.

To date, medicine has a clear idea about the routes of
transmission of the virus. Research has shown that it is
transmitted sexually, as a result of injections or some
other route where contaminated blood penetrates into
the body, as well as from an infected mother to her child.
Let us add here the problems of our health care,
including the shortage of medical instruments and dis-
infectants at medical institutions, carelessness on the
part of workers in hair-dressing salons, manicurists,
pedicurists and cosmetologists, uncontrolled number of
various people practicing acupuncture, and then you will
realize that any of us could become a potential victim of
AIDS. The tragedies in Elista, Rostov, Volgograd, Sha-
khty and Smolensk confirm this. Incidentally, there are
already enough examples in our republic.

Belarus, and 29 of them are our compatriots, including 5
children. In addition, there are more than 300 citizens of
this republic who are presently in the group of strict
monitoring because of vagueness of test results. In the
same group there are approximately 1,500 more people
who have had sexual or medical contact with HIV-
infected people, as well as representatives of risk groups,
and we were able to determine there are more than 1,000
of them in Minsk alone as of today.

A total of 39 foreign citizens representing both the
African continent and European nations, including East
European countries, have been found in this republic
and deported in recent years.

Information for your edification: Last year, 103,000 for-
eigners visited this republic as tourists, 20,000 came on
business, and there were close to 12,000 foreign students,
workers and specialists who resided here.

It should be stressed that these guests lead a far from
celibate life. We are learning of numerous contacts
between foreigners and our citizens. The representative
of one East European country, who was recently found to
be HIV-positive, could not even remember the names or
at least the number of all representatives of the fair sex
whom he had exposed to the fatal risk of infection with
this virus. Incidentally, the absolute majority of women.
in this republic, who are HIV-positive were infected as a
result of sexual contact with foreigners.

We are particularly alarmed by the recently discovered
HIV virus in five of our compatriots who had had
absolutely no contact with foreigners. This indicates,
once more, the continuing process of implantation of the
virus in the republic and the already begun spread
among our inhabitants.

According to prevailing worldwide practice, it is
believed that there are 10-12 undetected HIV-positive
cases per case that is found, i.e., as of today there are at
least 300 people in the republic who are infected with
this virus, and there are rather convincing data that
suggest that they number about 700.

Information to reflect upon: At least 50 billion rubles, in
terms of 1990 prices, will be required to render medical
care to HIV-positive and AIDS victims in the year 2000,
whereas about 40 billion rubles were spent last year on
all forms of health care in our country. I doubt that the
economy of our republic, which has already been under-
mined by the Chernobyl accident, could withstand such
a blow.

As of today, Belarus is in third place in the nation in both
absolute number of HIV-positive cases (after Russian
and the Ukraine) and in incidence of the virus scaled to
1000 residents (after Latvia and Estonia).

The history of development of the AIDS epidemic
afforded our country and republic a postponement of
almost 7 years. Most of this term has already elapsed.


18 EAST ASIA

AIDS Vaccine, New Strain Draw Comments
92WE0167D Bangkok DAO SIAM in Thai 26 Nov 91
pp 1,18

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] At 1000 hours on 25
November at the Soemmitbin-klao Restaurant Mr. Bun-
soem Thawankun, a former Chat Thai Party MP
{member of parliament] from Phichit and a former
committee member for public health and the environ-
ment in the National Assembly, allowed himself to be
interviewed by reporters. [passage omitted]

He said that inasmuch as we had a major public relations
effort under way and most Thai people were acquainted
with AIDS, The United States would want to use Thai
people to experiment with AIDS drugs. He did not agree
with this. If there were actual experimentation, the
United States would make a major public relations effort
to get Thai people to use the U.S. vaccine. This would
cause other countries throughout the world to think of
Thailand as a country with a great deal of AIDS. We
must consider carefully whether it would be appropriate
to let Thai people take part in tests of AIDS drugs and
whether it would be good to have countries throughout
the world think that Thailand was a country where the
AIDS virus was cultivated. We must consider carefully
whether there would be an effect on tourism and the
economy or not. We must consider everything before we
decide to bring in medicine for experiments on Thai
people or a U.S. vaccine to use on Thai people as an
experiment. We could have Thai doctors conduct the
experiments without U.S. involvement. Would it be an
insult for Thai doctors if U.S. doctors were to conduct
AIDS experiments on Thai people?

Mr. Bunsoem also asked whether Thailand’s reputation
would be hurt if the United States actually conducted
experiments and announced that Thailand was a country
which brought in experimental U.S. medicine to use.
This must be carefully considered. The United States
thought that Thailand had a great deal of AIDS and so
the Thai people should be used for AIDS experiments.
He wanted to say frankly that he did not want to have the
Thai people used in experiments with AIDS drugs.

During a tour given to the media from 22 to 24
November concerning the public health work being done
in Chiang Mai Province, Dr. Uthai Sutsuk, an undersec-
retary of public health, spoke about an AIDS vaccine
which the World Health Organization would bring in to
experiment with the treatment of people with the AIDS
virus in Thailand. [passage omitted]

The undersecretary spoke about the new strain of AIDS
found in Chiang Mai Province which had been named
the Chiang Mai strain. He felt it was inappropriate to so
name the virus because it could hurt our country’s
image. Virus strains varied normally because countries
and areas varied. For example HIV 1 was isolated in the
United States and HIV 2 in Africa. If new strains were

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

found, they could be called HIV 1/1, HIV 1/2, HIV 2/1
or HIV2/2. This would be the case because there were
differences in people

He said that in 1992 he would have the provincial public
health services strive to achieve 100 percent condom
usage. There were only 11 provinces that had achieved
100 percent condom usage so far.

“[This was achieved] by stressing that it was to be done
in all the brothels. It has been achieved abroad, for
example in England there has been 100 percent condom
usage for 30 years. If one goes there, one finds that if a
customer does not wear a condom at a brothel, the
prostitute will refuse to have sex and will gladly refund
the customers money. I feel that we should follow
England’s example. I feel that the policy of 100 percent
condom usage would be a New Year’s present to give to
the people in 1992.” [passage omitted]

Specialists Comment on AIDS Projections,
Vaccine

92WE0183A Bangkok SIAM RAT SAPDA WICHAN
in Thai 1-7 Dec 91 pp 14-16

{Excerpts] [passage omitted] The Ministry of Public
Health estimates that as of June 1991, there were
approximately 200-400,000 people with the AIDS virus.
The number of people with the virus is increasing by
about 700-1,000 people a day.

Dr. Apichat Niraphatphongphon, a member of the
Family Planning Association of Thailand, said that “if
this situation continues, within 10 years, approximately
2-4 million Thais will have the AIDS virus. And within
10 years, these people will die unless a drug to treat this
disease is found. [passage omitted}

Today, AIDS has spread to all groups. It is now common
among homosexuals, drug addicts, prostitutes, house-
wives, and infants. There are no longer any “at-risk”
groups. Approximately 14-15 percent of the prostitutes
nationwide have the virus. In some provinces, particu-
larly in the north, the percentage is as high as 65 percent.
About 2 percent of our military recruits approximately
20 years of age have the disease. In the upper northern
region, such as in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai Provinces,
the rate is as high as 14 percent. The rate among men
who frequent prostitutes is 20-25 percent. [passage
omitted)

Unless a vaccine is found, within the next 10 years, at
least 4 million people will contract AIDS, and all of these
will die. This is a major problem that must be solved.

“Where will these people live. Today, there are 300,000
AIDS patients, but there are only 90,000 beds at public
and private hospitals. And there aren’t enough doctors,”
said Dr. Aphichat of the Family Planning Association of
Thailand. “Doctors simply can’t look after all these
people. They can help only a few of these. What will be
done with the rest of these people? [passage omitted]


36 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

of fear of social boycott. This dread disease, which
infects humans, has been found in most countries but the
worrisome problem is that individuals infected with
AIDS are being found in Pakistan. It is a matter for
concern that compared to modern countries, there is no
consciousness of this disease among the people here nor
are there sufficient medical facilities in Pakistan for the
necessary treatment. The fact is that the existence of
AIDS cannot be denied nor is such a denial logical or
scientific. In the first place, no program has been started
in the medical sector in Pakistan to ascertain the number
of people infected with AIDS; and secondly, there is no
government campaign to inform the people of the lethal
consequences of this disease and the measures to be
taken to prevent infection. It is true that the government

SPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

should not be expected to do everything; professional
circles should undertake the task of providing informa-
tion of various kinds to the people. However, in the same
way that Western countries are spending billions of
dollars on AIDS research and treatment, here also a
special medical branch should be established on the
government level for the treatment of AIDS. The people
in Pakistan who are infected with AIDS may not be able
to shoulder the heavy expense of seeking AIDS treat-
ment in foreign countries; they should be able to find
treatment facilities in their own country. There is no
shortage of capable doctors in Pakistan who must be
well-acquainted with the latest advances in the treatment
of AIDS; their services should be utilized and if neces-
sary, they should be sent abroad for training.


SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992 4 AIDS

LATIN AMERICA
REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Simmonds Urges Media To Increase AIDS Education [Bridgetown CANA, 11 Nov 91]
BERMUDA

AIDS Death Rate Reaches Record High [Chris Gibbons; Bridgetown CANA, 24 Feb 92]
Per Capita AIDS Rate Second Highest in World [Bridgetown CANA, 3 Mar 92]

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Health Officer Reports on HIV Positive Cases
[Santo Domingo Radio-Television Dominicana Radio Network, 14 Feb 92]

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

BANGLADESH
Correspondents Briefed on Health Situation
[Dhaka THE BANGLADESH OBSERVER, 31 Oct 91] . 29
Experts Caution Against AIDS Invasion [Dhaka THE NI . 29
EGYPT
Adoption of New Anti-AIDS Plan /Doha AL-SHARQ, 3 Dec 91] ..... 30

Minister on Measures To Stop Spread of AIDS, Statistics
[Cairo Arab Republic of Egypt Radio Network, 15 Feb 92]

INDIA

Mass Migration Increases Venereal Disease in Surat

[P. K. Surendran; Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA, 7 Oct 91] ......» 30
Rise in AIDS in West Bengal, More Cases Feared
[Charles Nandi; Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH, 13 Dec 91] ... . 31
Spread of AIDS in Manipur Causes Alarm [Kishore Seram; New Delhi PATRIOT, 3 Jan 92] . 31
West Bengal Reports 19 AIDS Cases in State {Calcutta THE STATESMAN, 18 Jan 92] .... 33
LEBANON
Agreement Signed With WHO on AIDS Prevention Beirut Radio Lebanon, 13 Feb 92] . 33
MOROCCO
AIDS Figures: Obstacles to Prevention Discussed
[Othman Akalay; Casablanca LA VIE ECONOMIQUE, 13 Dec 91] . 33
AIDS Conferences to be Held Jan 31 /Rabat MAP, 24 Jan 92] ... . 35
PAKISTAN
Statistical Information on AIDS [Lahore NAWA-I-WAQT, 29 Dec 91] . 35
Editorial Views Concerning Spread of AIDS [Lahore NAWA-I-WAQT, . 35
CENTRAL EURASIA
Assessment of the Attitude of Juveniles Toward the AIDS Problem
[V. Pokrovskiy, G. Mozharova; SOVETSKOYE ZDRAVOOKHRANENIYE, Jun 91] ..... . 37
Software Created for Diagnosing AIDS /G. Yablonskiy; SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA, 4 Jul 91] . 4
Seventy-Eight AIDS Cases in Ukraine A. Frolov; PRAVDA UKRAINY, 11 Oct 91] - 42
“Anti-AIDS-Siberia” Association [Viktor Sapov; Moscow PRAVDA, 21 Oct 91] .. . 43


SPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

BANGLADESH

Correspondents Briefed on Health Situation

92WE0146A Dhaka THE BANGLADESH OBSERVER
in English 31 Oct 91 p 10

[Excerpt] [Passage omitted] Health and Family Welfare
Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf told another
questioner so far only one AIDS patient and seven
carriers of HIV were detected in the country. [sentence
as received]

Health Secretary Mokammel Huq was present on the
occasion while OCAB President Zaglul Ahmed Chowd-
hury introduced the minister at the briefing session.

Experts Caution Against AIDS Invasion

92WE0229A Dhaka THE NEW NATION in English
1 Dec 91 p3

[Article: “Experts Apprehend Invasion of AIDS”]

[Text] Some top medical experts have cautioned against
a possible invasion by AIDS (Acquired Immune Defi-
ciency Syndrome) as the deadly disease had already
struck many a neighbouring country, reports UNB.

Bangladesh, which so far reported five people carrying
AIDS virus, was placed fourth in south Asia in terms of
vulnerability to the killer disease, according to World
Health Organisation (WHO) reckoning.

The concern over any eventual rise in the number of

incidents of AIDS cases was voiced by some senior

medical experts including Major General (Retd) M R

eee Chairman of the National AIDS Committee
At

“We in Bangladesh are now sitting on a volcano—it has
already struck India and Thailand, and we simply cannot
adopt a complacent attitude”, Choudhury told UNB in
an exclusive interview on Saturday.

Speaking on the eve of the World AIDS Day, being
observed today (Sunday), he said, “if the disease can
make effective inroads, the health sector will simply
crumble down like a house of cards”.

Similar concern was also expressed by National Pro-
fessor Nurul Islam, who is also a member of the NAC. “If
the disease makes an inroad into the country, it will
strike like a havoc”, he said.

“Sharing the Challenge” has been the theme of the
World AIDS Day, being observed in the country as
elsewhere across the world today (Sunday) under the
auspices of World Health Organisation (WHO).

Aimed at opening of communication channels, strength-
ening information exchange and forging of a spirit of
social tolerance about AIDS, the idea of observing the
day emerged from a ministrial level conference in
London in January 1988.

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 29

Describing the AIDS situation in the country, Gen
Choudhury said the NAC, since 1986 conducted sero-
surveillance by collecting blood samples of about 19,582
people from among a “high-risk” group and so far found
only seven people with HIV positive.

Of them, one died from the disease in 1991, and another,
a Spanish sailor,was deported. The rest five are carrying
the HIV virus.

Under separate projects, Ibne Sina Clinic reportedly
collected blood samples of about 90,000 people for
testing and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society also
carried out tests on another 5,281 people with no report
of anybody carrying the virus.

Giving reasons for his concern, Gen. Choudhury said
there were about one million HIV-carriers in neigh-
bouring Indian states of Manipur, Nagaland and Mizo-
ram.

The situation was alarming in neighbouring Thailand
and Burma, with a large number of intravenous drug-
addicts who were reported to have been infected by the
disease.

“Proximity of these states to the Golden Triangle might
have precipitated such a situation”, the NAC chairman
said.

Bangladesh, he pointed out, was often used as a corridor
for drug trafficking and with reports of rising number of
drug-addicts, might easily fall a prey to the deadly
disease.

According to the latest WHO report, among the SAARC
countries, India has the highest number of HIV carri-
ers—about 72 of them. Pakistan and Sri Lanka come
next with 14 and 10 cases respectively, followed by
Bangladesh and Nepal. No HIV cases were reported
from Bhutan and the Maldives.

The Bangladeshis who are reportedly carrying HIV were
infected from abroad—most of them were workers who
had gone to the Middle East countries, Choudhury said.

Talking about the possible ways of AIDS infection, Prof.
Nurul Islam said injection syringes are more dangerous
than sexual intercourse. “Disposable syringes have no
meaning for the rural people, they use it for several
persons at a time... and this is a definite threat”.

“Multiple use of disposable syringes have also been
helping spread of viral hepatitis in the country”, Prof.
Islam pointed out.

French scientist Montagnier in 1983 first detected the
HIV virus which is responsible for destroying human
immune system.

The virus is transmitted in three ways, Gen. Choudhury
said. These are:

(1) Promiscuous sex—unprotected sexual intercourses
with an infected partner;



IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Two acquired the human immunodeficiency virus [HIV]
through sexual contacts in African and European coun-
tries, and the ministry is trying to find out how the other
seven were infected.

Five of the people are heterosexual and four are homo-
sexual, a ministry spokesman said.

South Korea now has 165 people who are HIV carriers
(148 men and 17 women). Fifteen have died and one has
emigrated.

MALAYSIA

Deputy Minister Reports on Increasing HIV
Cases

BK2512095891 Kuala Lumpur NEW STRAITS TIMES
in English 23 Dec 91 p 1

[Text] Kuala Lumpur, Sun—More than 2,200 Malay-
sians have been reportd to be infected with the Human
Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) and the number is
expected to increase, Deputy Health Minister Farid
Ariffin said today.

He said the ministry was keeping close tabs on the
relevant authorities to check on the increase and at the
same time educate the public on the dangers of the
disease.

Encik [Mr.] Farid said 30 Malaysians have so far died
from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
and seven more have been reported to be suffering from
the disease.

Encik Farid said stringent measures were being taken to
educate the public on the disease including using peer
pressure to educate high-risk groups.

“The peer group approach is turning out to be successful
and in the long run it can help curb the spread of the
disease,” he told reporters after speaking on AIDS over
TV3’s Sekapur Sirih morning programme.

The approach calls for training and educating some
members of the high-risk groups on AIDS and how to
take precautions to prevent the spread of the disease.

Asked on cases where medical staff, including doctors
and nurses, were found to be victims of the disease,
Encik Farid said as far as he knew there were no such
cases here.

However, he said he would initiate checks following
rumours that some doctors and nurses handling AIDS
and HIV victims were found to have become victims of
the disease following blood tests carried out in the
Institute for Medical Research here.

Encik Farid said although the ministry did not force
doctors to carry out blood tests, they were encouraged to
do so as they were in a much higher risk of getting the
disease from the patient.

EAST ASIA 15

The ministry has also trained 16,000 people to help the
Government in its efforts to fight AIDS.

The National Task Force on AIDS was in the midst of
preparing an action plan to fight the deadly disease and
the 16,000 would be roped in to help implement it.

With Encik Farid during the segment of the programme
was a man—husband of an AIDS victim who died in
March this year—who spoke of his experience.

Encik Farid praised him for coming forward to share his
experience with the public.

Health Ministry To Build Hospital for AIDS
Sufferers

BK1202041092 Kuala Lumpur BERNAMA in English
0321 GMT 12 Feb 92

[Text] Kuala Lumpur, Feb 12 (OANA-BERNAMA)—
The Malaysian Health Ministry plans to build a special
hospital in west-coast Selangor state, for acquired
immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) sufferers.

Health Minister Lee Kim Sai said Wednesday, the hos-
pital was necessary to treat HIV [Human Immuno-
Deficiency Virus] carriers who numbered 2,651 as of
January 16, 1992. These people however, would develop
full blown AIDS in about 10 years from now if no
effective vaccine was discovered by then, he said.

The hospital will be just like any other hospital but will
be only for AIDS cases, he added.

With this move, there would not be any objection from
patients at existing hospitals, Lee said. He stressed that
the government had to plan for a very big hospital for
AIDS sufferers in view of the large number of HIV
carriers. He said 32 of the 42 AIDS sufferers in the
country had died as of January 16 this year.

NEW ZEALAND

Qver 300 Cases of AIDS Reported by 1991 Year
me

BK1702113892 Hong Kong AFP in English 1118 GMT
17 Feb 92

[Text] Wellington, Feb 17 (AFP}—New Zealand had
recorded a total of 310 cases of people with full-blown
AIDS, of whom 209 had already died, by the end of
1991, the Otago Medical School said Monday.

Since New Zealand recorded its first three Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases in 1984,
209 people had died of the disease and 91 were still alive,
the Dunedin-based university’ ’s preventative and social
medicine department said in its quarterly report on the
disease.

Ten other people recorded with the disease were either
overseas or could not be traced, the report said.



IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Studies conducted by the Ministry of Public Health and
the World Health Organization indicate that unless
changes are made and unless action is taken to inform
people, the number of Thais with AIDS will increase to
4 million within the next 10 years. Another way of saying
this is that by the year 2000, one out of every three
people who die will die of AIDS.

“Based on the data that we have, I think that that is
probably true. You have to see what is happening in
Africa. We are not not doing enough. In Africa, AIDS
has spread like a wildfire. It’s shocking. In Thailand,
studies done by public hospitals have shown that 0.7
percent of the pregnant women tested have the AIDS
virus. This figure is expected to rise to 1 percent by the
end of this year. And unless a vaccine is available within
the next five years, they will die within three to 15
years,” said Dr. Wirasit. Those who have the AIDS virus
will later develop full-blown cases of AIDS, and they will
certainly die. How soon they die depends on their
physical condition.

If a person who contracts the AIDS virus is physically
weak, he or she will probably show symptoms within
three years and die two to three years after that. Those
who are physically strong may live for up to 15 years.
That is, after 15 years, they will develop symptoms and
die within one to two years.

“This is what will happen unless a vaccine is found.”

As for Thailand being one of the four countries to test an
AIDS vaccine, Dr. Wirasit said that this must be viewed
from at least three angles:

First is the humanitarian aspect. Those who are tested
must be volunteers. They must not be coerced into
participating in this. Those in charge of the program
must take full responsibility for those participating in the
test program.

Second is the benefit to Thailand. That is, once an
effective vaccine is found, the producers shouldn’t be
allowed to sell it to Thais at a high price. There must be
a clear agreement on this from the very beginning.

Third is the matter of public relations. People must
understand that in testing an AIDS vaccine, it will take
approximately five years before the results are known.
People shouldn’t think that just because a vaccine is
being tested, they can now engage in unsafe sexual
activities. Public relations activities must be carried on
to keep people informed.

“Looking at these three aspects, I don’t think that we can
be called guinea pigs. The people and mass media must
exert pressure to bring this about.”

As for those who feel that this is a disgrace to Thailand,
Dr. Wirasit said that today, AIDS is spreading in all
countries. Also, the present government has a policy of
admitting the truth, and it has implemented a program
to fight this terrible disease.

EAST ASIA a

“Our program has been praised as being one of the best
programs in the world. Thailand is always invited to
attend international conferences. Thais are members of
all five of the international AIDS committees. Thus, we
should be proud of the fact that we are waging a resolute
struggle against this terrible disease.”

Another thing is that even though the government has
not made this clear, the World Health Organization has
a system for determining how serious the disease is in
each country.

“This is not the age of concealment. Concealing things
just causes other countries to laugh at us, saying that we
have a problem but refuse to acknowledge it. That is very
embarrassing,” said the deputy director of the AIDS
program,

Another matter that is being discussed by many people is
the matter of establishing a settlement for people with
AIDS or people who have tested positive for the AIDS
virus. People have different views on this. People are
looking at this from a practical standpoint and from a
humanitarian standpoint.

From a practical standpoint, Dr. Wirasit said that there
is no way of doing this, because this disease is not limited
just to poor people. If the child of a wealthy person or a
senior person in the country contracts AIDS, will they be
willing to do this? Second, where would such a settle-
ment be built? There are now about 400,000 Thais with
AID. Are we going to build a fence around a province.
And if the number increases to 4 million in the next 10
years, what are we going to do, block an entire region?
{passage omitted]

Today, studies have shown that the people that are most
at risk of contracting AIDS are heterosexuals, both men
and women. This group is followed by drug addicts. The
number in this group has stabilized. The people with the
smallest chance of contracting the virus are homosexuals
even though these people have always been viewed as the
ones responsible for spreading the disease.

“In the next five to 10 years, the group with the largest
number of AIDS victims will be heterosexual women
followed by heterosexual men. This is because both
prostitutes and housewives will become infected,” said
Dr. Wirasit.

As for what is now being done, he said that most people
know that AIDS is spreading rapidly, that it is a fatal
disease, and that there is now no known treatment.
People know that the disease is spread through sexual
relations and the use of needles in common. These are
things that most Thais are aware of.

But the people must be provided with more detailed
information, because many people still misunderstand
things. Dr. Wirasit said that people misunderstand
things for several reasons. First, in the past, not enough
was done about this. Second, people were afraid of
harming tourism. Third, those who are involved in



IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

AIDS. From his study of 197 young crewmen from Trat
Province, Phetburi Province, Prachuap Khiri Khan
Province, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and Ranong
Province he found that the crewmen worked 20 to 25
days per trip and had to work very hard because they
shared a percentage of the profits with the ship owner.
When they were at sea there was IV drug use. When they
came ashore they drank, gambled and used prostitutes.
Only 21 percent used condoms each time they used a
prostitute. Of those who did not use condums, 25
percent felt that even though there was a danger of
contracting AIDS it was still better not to lose the feeling
of sex. This was because the crewmen still did not
understand as much as they should about AIDS. Some
said that they had never known of a person dying from
AIDS and thought incorrectly that a prostitute who
visited a doctor would not have AIDS.

Mr. Naowarat also said that the reason crewmen did not
use condoms was that 90 percent of them inserted a pearl
in the sexual organ which moved back and forth during
sex and was felt to please their partners. If they used a
condom, the pear! did not move as it should and hurt
both parties and so they did not use condoms. Providing
information for the crewmen was difficult because they
did not stay in one place. They moved about as groups
and therefore information about AIDS could be passed
on by ships’ officers or magazines which the crewmen.
liked to read.

Songkhla Province AIDS Statistics Cited
92WE0167C Bangkok SIAM RAT in Thai 22 Nov 91
pp 1, 16

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] Dr. Bunchai Bunbophalat,
the director of the Communicable Disease Center for
Area 12 in Songkhla, explained in the meeting that the
spread of the disease in Songkhla Province was just in its
initial stage. It had not reached the stage where it was
spreading a great deal as had been reported. [passage
omitted] According to the latest statistics for those with
AIDS derived from examinations at the center, there had
been a decrease. There had been only eight per 1,000
with the virus. [passage omitted]

Thirty Percent of Army May Get AIDS
92WEO167A Bangkok NAEO NA in Thai 23 Nov 91 p 9

[Excerpt] As reported by the Army Medical Department
there was a meeting of those involved [with AIDS] at the
Phailin Hotel in Phitsanulok Province which was
chaired by Lieutenant General Phairot Chan-urai, the
commander of the Third Army Region. Mr. Michai
Wirawaithaya, a minister attached to the Office of the
Prime Minister, attended the meeting along with the
governors of 17 provinces and 150 military and police
commanders.

Officials of the Army Medical Department revealed that
blood tests of personnel entering the military indicated
that more and more of those drafted had the AIDS virus

EAST ASIA 17

every year. In 1989 0.5 percent had the AIDS virus. In
1990 the figure had increased to 2.5 percent, and in 1991
the figure increased again to 3.2 percent. It was also
found that personnel drafted who were native to some
provinces in the North had an incidence of 17 percent.

Therefore it was felt that if every group did not cooperate
in changing its behavior or adopting the appropriate
measures to block the spread of AIDS, in another 10
years at least 30 percent of the soldiers in the Thai
military would have the AIDS virus. The consequence
would be that there would be a lack of healthy soldiers to
defend against the enemies who would certainly violate
the nation’s sovereignty.

At the meeting resolutions were passed specifying urgent
measures to be taken. The commander of the Third
Army Region stressed that the province governors, mil-
itary and police unit commanders and all others
involved in leadership positions should take effective
steps which could be summarized as follows:

1, The province governors were to specify clear policies
which would prevent the spread of AIDS in the brothels
or places of entertainment in their provinces. In addition
they were to prohibit strictly the opening of more
brothels or such places of entertainment in their prov-
inces.

2. The province governors, district heads, police officials
and public health officials were to cooperate in pres-
suring the owners or managers of various brothels to
make them insist that the prostitutes use condoms with
all customers and to make them send all the prostitutes
for regular health checks.

3. The laws prohibiting prostitution and the laws con-
cerning brothels were to be applied to punish the owners
of brothels who did not cooperate with officials in
educating people about AIDS, in sending all prostitutes
for health checks or in making sure that prostitutes used
condoms effectively.

4. The police were to check for and strictly prohibit
prostitution among children and adolescents under 18.
They were also to prohibit strictly women being forced
into prostitution and presentations which were sexually
arousing.

5. Military commanders at all levels were to explain to
their personnel the problem AIDS presented to all
active-duty units as well as to individual soldiers and
their families. They were to distribute condoms to sol-
diers every time they left their unit.

6. Military units which were assigned to psychological
operations among the people and among various groups
were to include public relations and information about
AIDS for the people each time there was an operation.
[passage omitted]



30 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

(2) Paranteral—through injection of infected blood or
blood products: and

(3) Prenatal—from an infected mother to her baby.

Dispelling the common notions, Prof. Islam said the
HIV virus does not spread through casual contact like
shaking hands, kissing or hugging, sharing food or drink,
coughing or sneezing, and bites of mosquitoes or other
insects.

“Isolating the people carrying HIV virus is no solution at
all”, he said.

The 10-member NAC, formed in 1985, have adopted
Bangladesh AIDS Prevention and Control Programme
(BAPP) and five diagnostic centres have already been set
up in the country.

Anyone wanting a test can do so from five centres at PG
Hospital, Institute of Public Health at Mahakhali,
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) at Dhaka
Cantonment, Chittagong Medical College and Sylhet
Medical College.

Confidentiality of persons checked at these centres is
maintained.

Government is also planning to set up a hot line similar
to those in the United States and other countries to
facilitate information regarding AIDS, Gen Choudhury
said.

EGYPT

Adoption of New Anti-AIDS Plan
92WEOI187A Doha AL-SHARQ in Arabic 3 Dec 91 p 11

[Text] A new national plan to combat AIDS has been
drawn up, starting this December and ending in 1993.
This national plan will be directed by Dr. Raghib
Duwaydar, the minister of health. The plan aims to
prevent the spread of the epidemic and to stop infection.
Participating in the implementation of the plan, which
was drawn up by the preventive medicine section in the
Ministry of Health, are the departments of culture and
information, and all the ministries and authorities under
the slogan: “One rank in the battle against AIDS.”

Studies presented by the World Health Organization
indicated that about 10 million people in the world die
every year of AIDS, and the number will reach 40
million by the year 2000. Dr. Subhi ’Abd-al-Rahim,
deputy minister for the preventive medicine section,
stated that it has been decided to establish 1,300 centers
for monitoring the epidemic among patients in the
governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Asyut, and Aswan in
order to do a comprehensive medical survey of the
groups most vulnerable to infection, such as venereal
disease patients and patients needing constant blood
transfusions, in addition to adicts.

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Dr. Samir Sa’d, general director of health education and
information in the ministry, stated that the strategy of
the new program concentrates on health awareness of
those working in the health field and of the public.
Preparations are being made to train 7,000 preventive
medicine doctors, psychiatrists, and nurses, and 100
social education teachers in the preparatory and sec-
ondary schools in AIDS prevention.

Minister on Measures To Stop Spread of AIDS,
Statistics

NC1502214492 Cairo Arab Republic of Egypt Radio
Network in Arabic 2100 GMT 15 Feb 92

[Excerpt] The National Democratic Party political club
resumed its meetings tonight to discuss various political,
economic, and social issues.

Health Minister Dr. Muhammad Raghib Duwaydar told
the meeting that there are only 150 AIDS cases among
Egyptians and 180 cases among foreigners. He stressed
that the Health Ministry is taking precautionary mea-
sures to stop this disease from spreading. He said that the
ministry has imported the most advanced equipment to
check for the AIDS virus through blood tests and sup-
plied all blood banks with this equipment, and general-
ized the use of disposable syringes to the extent that
around 2 million syringes are being used annually. He
added that the ministry has also analyzed blood samples
taken from citizens from various strata and from those
suffering from renal disease, banned the import of any
blood-related medicines until ascertaining that they are
free from the disease, and ordered hospitals across the
country to report all AIDS cases. [passage omitted]

INDIA

Mass Migration Increases Venereal Disease in
Surat

92WE0095A Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA
in English 7 Oct 91 p7

[Article by P. K. Surendran: “1.5 Lakh V.D. Cases in
Surat”)

[Text] Surat, Oct 6—About 1,50,000 people are believed
to have contracted venereal disease in this city,
according to a conservative estimate of the Surat Con-
sultants Association (SCA) here, recently.

This skyrocketing population of those suffering from
venereal disease is believed to have been caused by the
mass migration of labour from various parts of the
country and the high percentage of brothels in the city.

Industries such as diamond processing units have come
up all over, thereby attracting a large number of jobless
youths. High rent and the escalating cost of living have
compelled married men to leave their families behind


12 CHINA

In Ruili, the authorities are planning to open a special
hospital ward with 35 to 40 beds for AIDS cases next
year.

Dr. Kean said China had done sample surveys or tests
for AIDS on high-risk groups in all parts of China, and he
did not think there would be further major surprises.
Perhaps as many as 2,000 people now have the virus,
“but I don’t think it’s 10 times the size [of the confirmed
cases reported so far] or anything like that,” Dr. Kean
said.

Health officials have begun information programmes to
teach people about AIDS in Ruili and other parts of
Yunnan as well as the country’s major cities.

Four AIDS Carriers in Shanghai

92WE0239A Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA MORNING
POST in English 3 Dec 91 p 14

[Article by Daniel Kwan]

[Text] Authorities have admitted for the first time that
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has
spread to Shanghai.

Quoting medical officials, the semi-official Hong Kong
China News Agency (HKCNA) revealed yesterday that
four Shanghai residents have been confirmed as carriers
of the disease.

Chinese authorities rarely comment on AIDS and have
always blamed foreigners for spreading the disease in
China.

The agency also confirmed speculation that the Govern-
ment has failed to contain the disease in such remote
Provinces as Yunnan and Guangxi where many drug
addicts are AIDS carriers.

And yesterday, the pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao said that
Shenzhen, China’s most free special economic zone, had
set up its first AIDS consultancy clinic.

The clinic provided patients with medical checkups and
counselling services. The report said it would keep all
patient’s information confidential.

JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

As well as the new clinic, located at the Huangguan
customs checkpoint, an AIDS telephone hotline was
opened yesterday.

The HKCNA report said that Shanghai began to “mon-
itor its over 80,000 AIDS suspects” six years ago and the
first positive report came in 1987.

“Before this year, all individuals who have been tested
affirmative were foreign people,” the HKCNA report
said.

According to the Ministry of Health, 493 of China’s 1.15
billion people have tested positive for the Human
Immune Deficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, and
five have developed full-blown cases of the disease.

Guangdong Officials Concerned at AIDS Threat

HK2401141192 Hong Kong AFP in English 1226 GMT
24 Jan 92

[Text] Beijing, 24 Jan (AFP}—Medical officials in
China’s southern Guangdong province are seriously con-
cerned at the growing threat posed by the spread of the
AIDS virus.

In the first ten months of 1991, four carriers of the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that leads to
AIDS were registered in the province, said the Shang-
dong Evening News [as received], dated January 22 but
received here Friday.

This compared with nine cases for the entire period
covering 1986-1990, and reflected the seriousness of the
situation, the newspaper quoted a senior provincial
health official as saying.

Of the 22 cases of HIV infection so far recorded, 15 have
been foreigners or Chinese who had contracted the virus
while working overseas, mainly in Thailand.

According to ministry of health statistics, there are some
500 HIV carriers in China, with most concentrated in
the southern province of Yunnan which has a serious
drug problem. Five people have developed full blown
cases of the disease.


4 ‘SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Let us recall the most recent figures: on 31 October 1991,
418,303 AIDS cases had been reported to the WHO
[World Health Organization], i.e. an additional 46,000
cases in three months. Dr. Diego Buriot, the WHO
representative in the Ivory Coast, mentioned them last
Monday at the beginning of the seminar devoted to the
definition of research priorities in order to prevent and
control AIDS. Some of these priorities were announced
Wednesday afternoon by Professor Leopold Manlan
Kassi, chairman of the Ivorian scientific committee, a
component of the CNLS [National Committee Against
AIDS].

The final considerations mentioned the prevalence of
sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in Abidjan, which is
seen as a real source of such diseases. A study mentioned
their prevalence and that of the virus in secondary
schools. The use of condoms was therefore again encour-
aged, as well as family planning for young people aged 15
to 25. Actually, the cost of AIDS is not insignificant.

Apart from that, other priorities will be considered. For
instance “the Law and AIDS,” will make it possible to
study the country’s laws, in order to fill in a legal gap.
This study will be carried out by Prof. Yao N’Dre.

The common concern of all those participating in the
implementation of the national strategy is to identify the
most operational projects that correspond to the inter-
mediate-term plan.

Because AIDS is a spreading disease that is difficult to
circumscribe.

KENYA

Institute on Effectiveness of Kemron in AIDS
Treatment

EA0802070492 Nairobi KTN Television in English
1800 GMT 6 Feb 92

[Text] The Kenya Medical Research Institute, KEMRI,
today took exception to allegations by the Kenya Med-
ical Association that the Kemron drug was ineffective in
the management of AIDS. In a statement signed by the
chairman, Dr. Muhammad Abdullah, KEMRI said that
Kemron has been under clinical trials on more than
2,000 patients for more than 18 months and the results
were encouraging. The statement added that the drug
was on clinical trials in a number of other countries
under the auspices of the WHO and that results were
positive. KEMRI said it was studying the damage by the
medical association with a view to taking the next
remedial measures.

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11'March 1992

LIBERIA

AIDS, STD Control Program Under Way

92WE0264A Monrovia THE INQUIRER in English
17 Dec 91 pp 8, 6

[Text] The National AIDS and STD Control Programme
of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has
announced that all individuals requesting HIV certifi-
cates will pay a fee of $50.00.

However, under the program, all prospective blood
donors will be tested free of charge. The exercise,
according to authorities of the AIDS program, is now in
progress at the Liberian-Japanese Friendship Hospital
within the Compound of the JFK Medical Center in
Sinkor.

The lab will be opened to the public from 10 am to 3 pm
Mondays thru Fridays.

Meanwhile, all embassies, organizations, institutions
and the general public are reminded that the National
AIDS and STD Control Programme is the “only autho-
rized organization for the issuance of all valid HIV test
certificates for visa applicants and other travellers.”

Recently, it was reported that 500 cases of the HIV virus
have been tested by the National AIDS Control Pro-
gramme and other cooperating institutions. Of this
number, 12 cases of AIDS have been diagnosed.

The National AIDS and STD Control Programme was
reactivated in July 1991 with full financial and logistical
support from the World Health Organization (WHO),
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and
the Save the Children Fund (UK).

Partial Statistics Show 12 AIDS Cases

92WE0295A Monrovia THE SCORPION in English
13 Jan 92p1

[Article: “AIDS To Claim More Lives If...”]

[Text] Dr. Benson Barh, head of the National AIDS
Control Program has said that if “we are not careful,”
the disease will kill more people than those that died in
the civil conflict.

He said AIDS was a deadly disease that has no cure and
the need to prevent it from spreading was very essential.

Speaking during a regular press briefing at the World
Health Organization (WHO) headquarters at Mamba
Point in Monrovia, Dr. Barh disclosed that before the
civil crisis, there were forty-four (44) cases of the disease
reported in the country, and since the war subsided,
there has been twelve (12) “full-bloom” cases reported.

He said this was just a partial statistics on the disease as
this information was received from few hospitals.


IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

REGIONAL AFFAIRS

Simmonds Urges Media To Increase AIDS
Education

FL1211032191 Bridgetown CANA in English
2340 GMT 11 Nov 91

[Text] Basseterre, St. Kitts, Nov 11, CANA—St. Kitts
and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Kennedy Simmonds on
Monday called on the regional media to respond with
compassion and honesty while reporting on AIDS in the
Caribbean. Dr. Simmonds, a medical doctor, made the
call while addressing the opening of a four-day workshop
on the fatal disease, organised by the Caribbean Epide-
miology Centre (Carec) and the Pan American Health
Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/
WHO), in collaboration with Caribbean media organisa-
tions and the Ministry of Health here. The workshop has
received funding from the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID).

Simmonds told participants drawn from media houses
throughout the region that they were uniquely equipped
to lead the fight against AIDS, acronym for Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome. He said beyond pro-
viding information, journalists had to help to change the
attitudes and behaviour of Caribbean people regarding
AIDS, which is contracted mainly through sexual contact
and kills by breaking down the body’s immune system.

Simmonds noted persons in the 25-44 age group were
particularly susceptible to the disease, calling such per-
sons “the fertile minds and strong bodies of the region.
The prime minister said the media must bring the issue
of AIDS out in the open, objectively and humanely, so
that the vast majority of West Indians can learn more
about the disease and its prevention.

Rickey Singh, president of the Caribbean Association of
Media Workers Association (Camwork), said his organ-
isation would be happy to work with Carec to establish
awards for excellence in journalism, especially for stories
on AIDS and health issues. Singh also noted that it
would be timely for the workshop to send a cable to
former U.S. basketball star “Magic” Johnson, who
announced his retirement from the sport last week after
testing positive for the HIV virus which causes AIDS.
Singh commended Johnson for his stand in speaking out
and dedicating his life to educating people about AIDS.
He expressed the hope that by so doing, Johnson would
be an example for the “closet VIP’s we have in the region
who are yet to come out and take a stand like that in
order to help the suffering people in this region, who
continue to bear the stigma.”

Singh also highlighted several myths relating to AIDS in
the Caribbean, and stressed the need to debunk them
among Caribbean people. He said the region needed to
realise that most HIV positive individuals and AIDS
patients were heterosexuals and not homosexuals.

LATIN AMERICA 27

BERMUDA

AIDS Death Rate Reaches Record High

FL2402214592 Bridgetown CANA in English
1929 GMT 24 Feb 92

[Article by Chris Gibbons]

[Text] Hamilton, Bermuda, Feb 24, CANA—Fewer Ber-
mudians contracted AIDS last year, but the number of
people dying from the disease reached a record high,
according to a new government health report. The report
reveals 25 new cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome were recorded in 1991—down from 33 in
1990 and 35 in 1989—but 27 people died, the highest
annual figure since the government began tracking the
disease in 1982.

Health Minister Quinton Edness commented: “I think
it’s very good the figures are down but it’s nothing we
should get too excited about. It’s a very small decline.

“It’s too early to say if the figures show any particular
trend. I don’t think they do. We must keep monitoring
the disease and keep up with the public education about
AIDS and the importance of practising safe sex.”

At December 31, 1991, says the report, Bermuda had a
total of 193 AIDS cases with 158 dead. Health officials
expect the number of victims to more than double in the
next three years. And the disease continues to spread
through all levels of society. Health department officials
say they know of 12 children who have now lost one or
both parents to AIDS, and three children that are
infected with the virus. Another child has already died.
Eleven pregnant women have tested positive out of
3,412 tested since screening began in April, 1988.

The report stated that just under 50 percent of those
infected with the HIV virus were intravenous drug
users—down from 85 percent in 1985—while 26 percent
were homosexual or bisexual men and sexual partners of
drug users accounted for 18 percent of all cases. The
majority of cases are aged between 20 and 49.

Per Capita AIDS Rate Second Highest in World

FL0303233592 Bridgetown CANA in English
1631 GMT 3 Mar 92

[Text] Hamilton, Bermuda, March 3, CANA—As many
as 2,000 people in Bermuda could be infected with HIV,
the virus which leads to full-blown AIDS, an epidemiol-
ogist said here Tuesday. Rhonda Daniels told an AIDS
seminar the 193 registered Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome cases were “probably just the tip of the
iceberg.”

Pleading for compassion for the infected, she said symp-
tons of the full-blown disease can take more than 10
years to surface. Mrs. Hilary Soares, co-ordinator of a
hospice for the terminally ill, urged Bermuda to brace



24 EAST EUROPE

This began his long road to hell. His wife learned he was
a carrier from her girlfriend working at the clinic. His
parents learned about it from his wife. Pretty soon the
whole town knew. In his first job, his contract was not
extended. They threw him out of his second job.
Coworkers beat him up at his third job. The doctor at the
hospital refused to treat him. Neighbors started taunting
his son. He went to Warsaw.

The Virus and Narcotics

It is difficult to live with the virus, especially if one is an
active drug user. (In Poland 75 percent of HIV carriers
are drug users, and this is the group most likely to be
infected.) They can be infected even when they use their
own needles and syringes, because the drug itself can be
an HIV cocktail.

Drug users often want to go through a drug rehabilitation
program, but there is a two month waiting list. In
Warsaw, for example, there are only two drug rehabili-
tation units, with a total of about 15 beds.

Before MONAR set up a shelter for them in Warsaw,
they slept in basements, in stations, and in stairwells.

The MONAR emergency service began last February.
Today it already has two ambulances and a group of
trained staff.

About 60 persons come to the “shelter” each day. Some
come just for meals. Others to spend the night. Here they
can turn in their needle and replace it with a new one.
They receive treatment at the Leszna Street outpatient
clinic, which has doctors in all the specialties on duty. A
social worker helps them with a job, pension, or assis-
tance (ranging from about 600,000 to 1 million zlotys).
Jacek Alaba says: “If they receive money, it’s not because
they are drug addicts but because they are people who
are very sick.”

The centers are for HIV-positive drug users undergoing
drug rehabilitation who are determined to follow a strict
regimen and for carriers of other groups who have
nowhere else to go.

The Virus and the Home

When the first HIV-positive person appeared at one of
the MONAR centers a few years ago, panic broke out
among the residents. The caretakers and patients burned
the person’s clothing, and several people (staff and drug
users alike) decided to leave the home. Then Marek
Kotanski gathered together his fellow workers and the
HIV carriers and asked who would like to volunteer to
work at a center for HIV carriers. Several people volun-
teered. They went to Zbicko. This is how the first home
for HIV carriers began in May 1989.

Today they can live in 17 MONAR homes, in a settle-
ment for people who have been rejected that Marek
Kotanski built at Zagan, and in two health ministry
centers in Konstancin and Piastow.

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

The rules are strict at the homes for HIV-positive drug
users: work, an initial prohibition against going out
alone, and complete abstinence from drugs, alcohol, and
sexual relations.

The centers are not limited to adults. There are also the
children of HIV-positive mothers. A child born of a
woman who is an HIV carrier may be infected but need
not necessarily be. There is no way to tell before 18
months of age. Over a dozen infants at risk have been
born in Poland up until now.

Theoretically, a drug user is not supposed to be at the
center for more than two years, but not everyone has a
place to go, and not all are strong enough psychologically
to start living independently. Agnieszka Wisniewska, a
24-year old therapist from Konstancin, says: “At first the
HIV carriers seek groups. They want to be with people
who have similar problems. Later they yearn for inde-
pendence, but even if they find housing and a job,
attempts at independent living often end in defeat. The
main reason is loneliness.

There are HIV carriers who live in their own homes.
They try to hide their secret from everyone. They may
work. It could be the sales assistant at the bakery who
hands us bread.

The Virus and Hygiene

Clinics all over the country have received handbooks on
AIDS. The books tell how to treat carriers and how to
protect oneself against possible infection. The textbooks
wind up in drawers, and most nurses and physicians still
become frightened, when a carrier shows up at the door.
They often either refuse to help them or find a pretext to
get rid of them. Even if they accept them, they do not
help them much. Andrzej Melnik, affiliated with the
MONAR emergency service, says: “There was a case
where a man lay there on the floor of the waiting room
for 16 hours, and nobody took any interest in him.”

Public health employees warn each other about a patient:
“Oh, they’ve come with an HIV again,” a nurse calls out
right in front of the MONAR orderly. “Actually, I could
have called her to account for violating medical confi-
dentiality,” Melnik says.

But the panic over the virus has not helped improve
sanitation in hospitals, a condition the World Health
Organization has called “catastrophic.” The HIV virus
cannot be detected until several weeks following infec-
tion. Therefore, if an infected person whose test does not
yet indicate he is a carrier comes to the hospital, for
example, for an appendectomy, he will be treated like an
“ordinary” patient. The risk of infection with the HIV
virus is very likely. “I assisted at the delivery of awoman
who turned out to be HIV positive two weeks later,” says
a midwife nearly hysterical, admitting that she did not
wear gloves for the delivery. “Each patient should be
treated as a potential carrier,” says Deputy Health Min-
ister Krystyna Sienkiewicz. “In practical terms, it is



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

WHO: Over One Million New AIDS Carriers in
Past 8 Months

AU1202142192 Paris AFP in English 1403 GMT
12 Feb 92

[Text] Geneva, Feb 12 (AFP)—More than a million new
cases of AIDS infection have been registered in the past
eight months, mostly in the Third World and through
heterosexual contact, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) said here Wednesday.

Nearly half the new cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, a
quarter in Asia and one-sixth in South America, it said in
its latest report on the acquired immune deficiency
syndrome.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 1

Since the illness was first recognized, 10 to 12 million
people have become infected with the HIV virus which
causes the disease.

The figure of HIV-infected people is expected to reach
30 to 40 million by the year 2,000, WHO said in its latest
report.

Nearly 1.5 million of the HIV-carriers, including half a
million children, have developed the disease, WHO said.

As the virus takes about 10 years to act, those now ill are
mostly from areas were the disease first spread a decade
ago, including North America, Africa and Western
Europe.



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992 5 AIDS

Interview With AIDS Patients

[O. Izvekovoy and V. Romanenko; Moscow ARGUMENTY I FAKTY, No 45, Nov 91]
Anti-AIDS Education Measures Planned /A. Korolev; Moscow TRUD, 27 Nov 91] .....
AIDS Patients Criticize Medical, Social Treatment /A. Nikonov; Moscow TRUD, 29 Nov 91]
AIDS Cases on Rise in Belarus [V. Glazovskiy; SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA, 30 Nov 91]
‘New AIDS Case in Nizhniy Novgorod [V. Dolgodvorov; Moscow TRUD, 6 Dec 91]
Private Donations to AIDS Fund /C. Zhelezko; Moscow TRUD, 11 Dec 91]
Ukrainian AIDS Prevention Law /L. Kravchuk; Kiev HOLOS UKRAYINY, .
Interview With Armenian AIDS Center Director /Em. Mkrtchyan; Yerevan EPOKHA,
Official Gives Data on AIDS Sufferers

[N. Ivanov; Moscow Teleradiokompaniya Ostankino Television First Program Network, 13 Feb 92] .
Officials Release Odessa AIDS Statistics /Kiev Radio Kiev, GMT 17 Feb 92] .....
Security Officials on Entry [Leonid Timofeyev; Moscow TASS International Service, 27 Feb 92]
AIDS Cases Dropping [Lyubov Dunayev; Moscow TASS International Service, 6 Mar 92]

WEST EUROPE
DENMARK
Youth Found Heeding Safe-Sex Campaign [Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 28 Jan 92] .. 52
Study Finds Copenhagen Prostitutes Free of HIV
[Olav Hergel; Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 29 Jan 92] ...
Further Details on Prostitutes/‘Safe-Sex’ Study
[Olav Hergel: Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, | Feb 92]
SWEDEN
Monthly HIV Increase Stable [Kerstin Hellbom; Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 23 Oct 91]
UNITED KINGDOM

Survey of Tuberculosis Incidence Planned
[Victoria Macdonald; London THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 5 Jan 92]



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

HONG KONG

Two More HIV Virus Carriers Identified

92WE0240A Hong Kong THE HONGKONG
STANDARD in English 27 Nov 91 p 6

[Article by Rita Lun]

[Text] Two people, including a prostitute were found to
be HIV virus carriers last month, while a man had
developed full-blown AIDS after contracting the virus
through sexual intercourse, according to the Health
Department.

This brings the total number of AIDS cases in Hong
Kong to 58, of which 39 have died, while the others are
either receiving treatment or have left the territory.

The latest HIV virus carriers diagnosed raises the total
number of HIV carriers to 193, including three prosti-
tutes.

The steady increase in both groups has sparked concern
over the use of condoms during sexual intercourse—
through which AIDS is most easily transmitted.

Dr. Lee Shui-shan, a consultant at the Department of
Health’s special preventive program, warned yesterday
that local prostitutes were still vulnerable to AIDS infec-
tion as many of their customers refused to use condoms.

“Many of them (the prostitutes) are not using condoms,
even though they are carrying them, because of some
customers’ objections,” he said.

Dr. Lee called for more public education and counselling
on the use of condoms during intercourse with prosti-
tutes.

Territory Involved in Smuggling Banned AIDS
Drug to U.S.

HK1901031892 Hong Kong THE SUNDAY
STANDARD in English 19 Jan 92 p 1-3

{Article by Martin Freeman]

[Text] Hong Kong is involved in an international net-
work smuggling a banned anti-AIDS drug into the
United States.

At one end of the trail is a traditional Chinese herbal
Toot.

At the other are desperate AIDS sufferers, risking poten-
tially- deadly side-effects from the untested extract from
the root, who believe the compound can help them beat
the disease.

They receive the drug intravenously in underground
“guerilla” clinics in the United States.

EAST ASIA 13

The drug is trichosanthin—extracted from the Chinese
cucumber root, tian hua fen—also known as compound

The secrecy is necessary because Q is unregistered in the
US. and imports of it were banned after two people died
during underground trials in San Francisco in 1989.

The drug is also undergoing official tests in America,
which began the same year—but the process of approval
by the Food and Drug Administration takes four or more
years.

People with AIDS do not have that long to wait.

THE SUNDAY STANDARD has learned that one or
more people infected with HIV—the virus that causes
AIDS—are travelling to the U.S. for treatment with Q at
an underground clinic.

AIDS workers in Hong Kong are aware of the trips. They
have issued warnings about the possibility of dangerous,
even fatal, side effects from the drug.

However, any of Hong Kong’s 203 HIV carriers or 20
AIDS sufferers who want Q have no alternative but to
travel to the U.S.—doctors here are said to be unwilling
to administer it because the drug is not registered in the
territory.

Trichosanthin is produced in China, principally in two
factories in Shanghai and north of Nanking.

Some U.S. AIDS patients obtain their supplies direct
from China.

But Hong Kong—where the herbal root is widely avail-
able in Chinese medicine shops—is another target.

A source at one pharmaceutical manufacturer told THE
STANDARD: “My company has supplied some Amer-
ican AIDS patients who take the drug to the United
States.”

He said his company was not the only one involved in
the supply in Hong Kong.

The firm supplied a purified form of trichosantin which
was then further refined in the U.S..

The source declined to give other details.

Q grabbed the limelight in the battle against AIDS
following work by Dr. Yeung Hin-wing of the Chinese
University of Hong Kong.

In the 1970s he found that the compound, previously
regarded only as an abortion drug, attacked macroph-
ages, an immune system cell that was latter shown to act
as a host for the HIV virus.

In the 1980s joint laboratory research with the Univer-
sity of California in San Francisco showed compound Q
appeared to be successful as an HIV virus killer.



IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

high risk group, are tested. It has been found, she said,
that about 5.5 percent of this group are HIV positive.

She said pregnant women are also tested as a low risk
group, and about 0.6 percent have so far proved HIV
positive.

Dr. Antwi noted that as at July this year, the recorded
number of AIDS cases stood at 2,521.

[Passage omitted]

Hospitals To Have HIV Detection Equipment

92WE0293C Accra PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 3 Dec 91 pp 1, 8-9

[Article by Dwamena Bekoe, Koforidua: “RST
Machines for Hospitals”)

[Excerpt] The Ministry of Health (MOH) is to equip all
district hospitals in the country with Rapid Screening
Tests (RST) machines to enable them to test blood
donors for the HIV/AIDS disease.

The Ministry with assistance from some donor agencies
has already equipped nine regional hospitals with a laser
screening machine and a number of district hospitals
have also been equipped with the RST.

Dr. Alex Ababio, Deputy Secretary for Health, said this
at the national launching of the World AIDS Day at
Koforidua on Sunday.

The occasion which coincided with the launching of the
fourth International World AIDS Day was themed:
“Sharing the challenge.”

To further strengthen the control of the disease through
blood transfusion, Mr. Ababio said the Ministry has
intensified its educational programme on nutrition and
malaria prevention especially for mothers and children.
[Passages omitted]

Upper East To Step Up AIDS Counselling

92WE0293B Accra PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 28 Dec 91 p 8

[Article by Abdul Aziz, Navrongo: “AIDS Counselling
Bureaux for Upper East”]]

[Text] Counselling bureaux to assist AIDS patients and
their relatives are being established in health institutions
throughout the Upper East Region by the Ministry of
Health.

AIDS screening in Bolgatanga and Navrongo has proved
that the region is as heavily infected as other regions in
the country.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 3

Dr. Kwame Adogboba, Regional Director of Health
Services, who discussed this at Paga during the observa-
tion of Upper East AIDS Day, said the number of cases
detected as at November this year stood at 138 positive
as compared to only 45.

He said out of 1,467 blood donors screened, 28 were
positive even though they felt so well that they came to
donate blood, to save life and were only detected through
routine blood screening.

The Regional Director said the recent epidemic of
cholera was not as bleak as this threat of AIDS.

He attributed the spread of the disease to ignorance and
disbelief and emphatically said AIDS is a real menace
since there is yet no cure for it.

He urged the formation of functional AIDS control
committees in the districts to liaise with the district
assemblies to draw up campaign programmes for all
communities.

AIDS Increase in Ashanti Region

92WE0293G Accra PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 9 Jan 92 p 16

[Article by Nehemia Owusu Achiaw, Kumasi: “Immuni-
sation Coverage in Ashanti

[Excerpt] [Passage omitted] Dr. Amofa, [Regional
Director of Health Services], said reported AIDS infec-
tion cases in the region have shot up to 776.

He said Ashanti has the second highest reported AIDS
cases after Eastern Region which has a record of 971
cases,

IVORY COAST

Seminar Discusses AIDS Research Priorities

92WE0261A Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN in French
1 Dec 91 p2

[Article by Lebry Leon Francis: “AIDS and Research: To
Reduce Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among the
Young”)

[Text] National AIDS-control strategies involve many
constraints and are often difficult to apply. Yet, these
constraints must be resolved; this is a goal to which
researchers and leaders must again subscribe.

Then, a proposal: to perform multidisciplinary research
in nearly every direction, but basic research, which often
mobilizes considerable financial and technical resources,
does not yield results quickly. Since AIDS was
announced to the world 10 years ago, neither a vaccine
nor a drug has been found that will overcome it. This is
why researchers increasingly tend to consider opera-
tional research which, for its part, will yield almost
immediate results serving to better direct our efforts.
The essential question today is still: how can we reduce
the individual and collective impact of the disease?



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Dr. Thepphanom Muangmaen, the dean of the Faculty
of Public Health at Mahidol University, said that “it
costs about 1.2 million baht to treat AIDS patients
counting from the time that they contract the disease
until they die. It costs thousands of baht a day to provide
treatment. They have to take 10 pills a day, pills that cost
69 baht per tablet. And there are other costs in treating
them.”

It is estimated that Thais with AIDS will die within two
years. But Americans with this disease live up to five
years. This shows the difference in the quality of life
between a developed country and a third-world country.

The director-general of the Department of Communi-
cable Disease Control and public health experts agree
that testing an AIDS vaccine in Thailand will benefit
Thais.

Dr. Nat Phomprawat, the rector of Mahidol University
and a member of the Vaccination Program of the World
Health Organization, told SAPDA WICHAN that there
are three types of AIDS vaccines that will be tested in
Thailand:

1. A vaccine to prevent people from contracting the HIV
virus from people who already have the disease.

2. A vaccine to treat the HIV virus in people who already
have the disease. This will be used in conjunction with
other drugs to prevent complications or to prevent
physical deterioration.

3. A vaccine to prevent unborn infants from contracting
the disease from their infected mothers.

“These vaccines will be tested in three stages. That is,
after the drugs have been tested in the laboratory and on
test animals, if a vaccine proves to be effective and
provides immunity, it will be tested on a small group of
people. That is the first step,” said Dr. Nat.

“The tests conducted on this small group of people will
be monitored closely by doctors. If the results are good
and the drug is safe, we will proceed to the second stage,
which is to increase the number of people given the
drugs. Normally, when testing vaccines in this stage, the
subjects will be injected with the virus in order to
determine whether the vaccine is effective. But in the
case of the AIDS vaccine, I don’t think that we will inject
people with the AIDS virus, because this is a very
dangerous disease.

If the second-stage tests yield good results, researchers
will move on to the third stage. The vaccines will be
given to large numbers of people, who will not be
monitored closely. The results will be checked periodi-
cally.

“The World Health Organization will send a question-
naire to various countries. If a country is interested, it
will inform the WHO that it is interested in having tests

EAST ASIA 19

conducted there. Besides Thailand, India and 10 other
countries in Africa and South America have expressed
an interest, said Dr. Nat.

The WHO will choose six countries to represent the
peoples of different continents.

“They have sent a team to study our readiness. This
team will visit the north and the northeast. Medical
researchers at Khon Kaen University and Chiang Mai
University are prepared,” said Dr. Thira Rammasut, the
director-general of the Department of Communicable
Disease Control, to SAPDA WICHAN.

This study of our readiness is expected to take one to two
years. The actual testing of the vaccines will take four to
five years. It may be 10 years before the actual results are
known.

“If the World Health Organization selects Thailand, a
research framework will have to be formulated and
submitted to the research committee of the ministry and
to the Human Research Committee for approval.”

After that, a research team will be established. This team
will be composed of epidemiologists, laboratory scien-
tists, officials to manage the vaccines in practice, sociol-
ogists, and psychologists, who will study the details.

The reason why Thailand is interested in testing these
AIDS vaccines is that this will help develop Thailand
and raise the level of awareness of people in medical
circles, particularly researchers and epidemiologists.
Besides this, those countries in which the vaccines are
tested may have the right to use these vaccines before
other countries if the tests are successful.

“Besides this, we may be able to reach an agreement with
the producers of these vaccines and ask to purchase them
at a lower price. Because if these vaccines prove to be
effective, they will be very expensive,” said Dr. Nat.

“Something else that is important is that the subjects of
these tests will have to be monitored closely by doctors.
They will have to be provided with a place to stay, food,
and other conveniences just as if they were at home.
Thus, if tests are conducted in industrial countries, costs
will be very high. But these costs will be lower in
third-world countries.”

Dr. Nat said that even though the AIDS viruses belong to
the same family, in each country or on each continent,
the virus is of a different type. Thus, better results will be
achieved if tests are conducted in each area.

Will Thais be guinea pigs?

“That’s not true,” said the director-general of the
Department of Communicable Disease Control to
SAPDA WICHAN. These vaccines will have been tested
in the laboratory and on animals to see how effective
they are and if they provide immunity. Only then will
phase one tests be conducted on 20-50 human volun-
teers. During the second phase, the number of subjects



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 MARCH 1992

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Broapcast

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PRS Report—

Epidemiology

AIDS

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DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A

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2 CENTRAL EURASIA

available to epidemiological stations, blood banks, hos-
pitals, medical educational institutions and scientific
research institutes.

Yablonskiy: Vladimir Vasilyevich, consider our man-
in-the-street who might wish to be tested for AIDS after
a visit to the dentist—something that is itself not entirely
safe. How can you help him?

Kostyushov: It’s already been 4 years now since our
collective developed and even patented a dry drop
method. You get a special envelope containing a sheet of
filter paper. You put a few drops of blood from your
finger on it in the place indicated (naturally, observing
proper cleanliness and sterility!). And your sheet bears a
special code on the top. When the envelope reaches the
lab, the code is entered into the LABARM'’s electric
memory. After the analysis is carried out (recall that the
time is reckoned in minutes!), you get an error-free
answer. And should there be cause, all of the necessary
recommendations.

Yablonskiy: But when will your “dry drop” become
available to all citizens, and the LABARM to all inter-
ested doctors?

Kostyushov: Perhaps when all Soviet inventions and
developments stop languishing on shelves or eking out a
pitiful existence as one-of-a-kind items. But thank God,
there are sensible people around, ones ready to invest
both money and energy into this global cause of fighting
AIDS. I was pleased to make the acquaintance of
Nikolay Nikolayevich Tereshchenko and Oleg Aleksan-
drovich Mudrik, directors of the small enterprises TNN
and Ferment in Odessa. We have an enormous amount
of joint practical work to do: We need to find the most
qualified personnel, accomodate them in work areas
worthy of their caliber, and acquire very expensive
equipment and materials. Finally, in Odessa we need to
organize manufacture of the scientific and technical
products we need the most in order to put a lid on AIDS.

Yablonskiy: But it seems as if even this tremendous goal
is an intermediate one.

Kostyushov: Yes. Immunity lost must be regained,
immune deficiency must be treated. And let me recall
here that the Narine fermented milk product already
being produced by TNN and Ferment is truly a miracle,
because it enhances the defenses of the human body. It’s
no accident that after Chernobyl, Belorussia became the
largest consumer of Odessa’s industrial produced
Narine—the first Soviet-made product.

At the end of our interview Candidate of Medical Sciences
V. V. Kostyushov insisted that besides just providing
publicity, I should also attract the attention of all inter-
ested organizations and persons. The telephone number
at which he can be reached is 32-22-73, the number of
TNN and Ferment. Call between 1400 and 1600 hours.
Let me add that the editor's office of our newspaper has
been and continues to remain in contact with all who
make the life of our fellow citizens better, safer and more

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

civilized. In particular, we are watching to see that the
fight against AIDS is being organized and conducted
effectively.

Seventy-Eight AIDS Cases in Ukraine

92WE0089B Kiev PRAVDA UKRAINY in Russian
I] Oct 91 p 3

Interview with Prof A. F. Frolov, director of the Scien-
tific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious
Diseases imeni L. V. Gromashevskiy, by Tamara May-
boroda: “AIDS is Advancing...”]

{Text] The 12th Congress of the Ukrainian Scientific
Society of Microbiologists, Epidemiologists and Parasi-
tologists was recently held in Kharkov. Urgent issues
associated with the increasing spread of AIDS, with
children’s viral infections and with hepatitis, cholera and
other dangerous diseases were on its agenda.

Questions from our correspondent were answered by
USSR Academy of Medical Sciences corresponding
member, Professor A. F. Frolov, chief infection spe-
cialist of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and director
of the Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and
Infectious Diseases imeni L. V. Gromashevskiy.

Mayboroda: Arkadiy Fedorovich, besides all else, you are
the head of the republic’s Center for AIDS Prevention.
Judging from everything, HIV is our main danger today.

Frolov: Unfortunately, yes. The rate at which the infec-
tion is spreading over the republic’s territory is epi-
demic. Judge for yourself. While in 1987 we had only six
cases of AIDS infection, now there are as many as
78—that is, in a little over 3 years the number of infected
individuals increased 13 times! And this is not counting
infected foreign citizens who are presently residing in the
Ukraine. What is most distressing is that the virus has
spread beyond the so- called risk groups (homosexuals,
drug addicts, prostitutes), and it is now being actively
introduced among people living a normal sex life.

Mayboroda: Could it be that new pathways of the infec-
tion’s transmission have opened? Last week KOMSO-
MOLSKAYA PRAVDA reported in an article titled
“Sensation?” with reference to the American journal
NATURE that “mothers infected with the virus can
infect their own children with milk during breast-
feeding.” The conclusion reached from this is that by
analogy, the virus “is also fully able to penetrate into the
body of an adult individual with saliva—when kissing,
for example.”

Frolov: I don’t see anything sensational in that. As far as
infection by saliva is concerned we have issued warning
about HIV, about the danger of so-called sexual kisses,
many times. Transmission of a virus to a child with
mother’s milk is also no revelation. We are aware of this
pathway. Moreover I can add that it is more incidious
and dangerous than may appear at first glance. It was


6 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Statistics have been gathered over the last four months
from hospitals and clinics throughout the country. Cer-
tain high risk groups were targeted, such as homosexual
males and drug abusers, but other samples have been
taken at random.

Since the disease is now recognised to know no bound-
aries of sexual orientation, age or gender, the survey has
covered as many people and geographical areas as pos-
sible, with sampling being done in complete anonymity.

Announcing limited details of the impending report,
Health Minister Nicky Iyambo said yesterday that
Namibia could not escape the threat of AIDS.

“1991 can be marked as The Year of HIV Infection and
AIDS. From January 1 1991 to November 30 1991, we
had 1,125 HIV/AIDS cases; 613 males and 499 females
with 13 unknown.”

Until last year, Namibia’s record on HIV infection was
734, showing a massive leap in figures over recent
months.

Together with the National AIDS Control Programme
(NACP) the Health Ministry was working on firm guide-
lines to prevent the disease from spreading further in
Namibia. Once drawn up, these guidelines would be
implemented on an intersectoral basis, with help from
the community, private business, youth organizations
and churches.

The Minister also announced details of a pledging Donor
Conference for Namibia’s Medium Term Plan (MTP) on
AIDS. It was scheduled for February 24, but copies of
the MPT [as published] would be available from the
Health Ministry the last week of this month. While the
battle against AIDS is still largely to be fought in
Namibia, other killer diseases appeared to be coming
under control. [passage omitted]

Health Minister Discusses AIDS Statistics

MB2502113492 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1043 GMT 25 Feb 92

[Text] Windhoek Feb 25 SAPA—Namibia has an esti-
mated 50,000 HIV positive cases with more then 500
cases of the infection leading to AIDS identified during
the past 3-1/2 months, NAMBC [Namibian Broad-
casting Corporation] TV news reported in Windhoek.

“We in Namibia have a situation which has the potential
for rapid change for the worse,” Health and Social
Services Minister Nickey Iyambo said at a conference in
Windhoek on Monday.

He was addressing about 60 donors from around the
world who pledged almost R{rand]6 million for the
Namibia’s National AIDS Control Programme [NACP]
to combat the disease in the country. The funding is for
the first year of the NACP’s five year programme.

IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

The Namibian English daily reported Namibia has a
total of 1,995 people infected with the Human Immun-
odeficiency Virus which leads to the killer disease
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. This includes
1,261 new infections reported in 1991, compared with
543 the previous year.

Almost nine out of 10 of the cases reported last year are
in the 15 to 44 age group, while another five percent are
new-born babies.

Monday’s conference was the first in a series of annual
meetings to be coordinated by the United Nations
Development Programme working with the World
Health Organsation to tackle the disease.

Namibia first began recording AIDS statistics in 1986
when an advisory committee was recorded.

Prime Minister Hage Geingob assured the meeting the
programme enjoyed the government’s highest support
with President Sam Nujoma launching the NACP in
1990.

NIGERIA

Minister Gives Figures on AIDS

92WE0271A Lagos THE GUARDIAN in English
21 Dec 91 p 24

[Article by Onajomo Orere, Ben Ukwuoma and Akin
Jimoh: “7,000 Nigerians Die of Cholera, Says Minister”]

[Excerpt] [Passage omitted] Health Minister Professor
Olikoye Ransome-Kuti noted that 94 full blown cases of
Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have
been registered so far.

He warned that AIDS infection rate jumped from 0.17
percent sero-positives in 1988 to 1.578 percent by Sep-
tember this year out of 156,536 blood samples screened.

He said the 23 screening centres now functioning nation-
wide would increase to 51 with the arrival soon of a £1.5
million (about N40 million) British aid.

SEYCHELLES
Twenty-Two Tested HIV Positive, No AIDS
Cases

92WE0266A Victoria SEYCHELLES NATION
in English 29 Nov 91 pp I, 2

[Text] There are 22 people who have been tested HIV
positive in Seychelles, the Ministry of Health announced
on Wednesday. They include two expatriates.

These people, most of whom are said to have engaged in
heterosexual activities, are 12 males and 10 females.
They have not yet developed the full-blown disease of
AIDS, according to the health sources.


IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

He declined to name the hospitals or the regions they are
situated.

Dr. Barh told journalists that the WHO is to shortly
distribute half a million condoms to adult males in
Monrovia and its environs in a bid to combat the spread
of the killer disease, which, he said, has no cure.

He said the disease had an incubation period of between
five-ten (5-10) years, and when you think you are
healthy, you could well be a walking dead man or
woman,

Dr. Barh said one of the surest way to avoid attracting
the disease was to “stick” to one faithful partner; or if
you are one who likes to flirt, then you should use a
condom—writes Joe Moore Goweh.

MOZAMBIQUE

Pemba Reports 5 AIDS Cases by Aug 91

MB1002122392 Maputo Radio Mozambique Network
in Portuguese 1030 GMT 10 Feb 92

[Text] Five cases of AIDS were reported in Cabo Del-
gado Province’s city of Pemba by August 1991. The cases
were diagnosed during a study covering some 130
people.

Maputo City Worst Hit by AIDS Virus
MB1502182192 Maputo Radio Mozambique Network
in Portuguese 1730 GMT 15 Feb 92

[Excerpt] Mozambique had reported nearly 300 AIDS
cases by August of last year. Tests have shown that
Maputo city has the greatest number of people infected
by the virus. Inhambane city is the one with the lowest
number of AIDS-infected persons. [passage omitted]

Nearly 100,000 AIDS Cases Projected by 1995

‘MB0903192392 Maputo Radio Mozambique Network
in Portuguese 1730 GMT 9 Mar 92

[Excerpt] Nearly 100,000 people could be affected by the
AIDS virus in Mozambique by 1995. This has been
disclosed at a seminar on family planning. [passage
omitted covered by referent item]

NAMIBIA

Editorial Disputes CCN Director on Condoms

92WE0265A Windhoek THE NAMIBIAN in English
6 Dec 91 p7

[Editorial] CCN [Namibian Council of Churches]
Director Abisal Shejevali’s astounding contribution to
World AIDS Day, in which he discouraged people from
using condoms, left us temporarily speechless.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 5

But we feel morally-bound to take a strong line against a
piece of advice, given by one of Namibia’s most influ-
ential leaders, which we regard as unhelpful, irrespon-
sible and downright dangerous.

AIDS is not some flash-in-the-pan disease to be taken as
an idealistic test of Namibia’s moral stamina. Nor is it
something we can waste any time in fighting. As Health
Minister Dr. Nicky Iyambo recently said, it is with us
here and now: HIV positive Namibians are walking in
Independence Avenue and AIDS victims are dying in
our hospitals. The fact that relatively few Namibians are
so far affected by the disease does not give us any right to
treat AIDS as some kind of distant, philosophical debate.
While Dr. Shejevali discusses the pros and cons of
Namibia’s moral health, calls for increased education
which the CCN can currently ill afford, and recommends
intensified “preaching, teaching and Sunday school
activities”, the AIDS virus is fast gaining ground.

According to Shejevali, “95 percent of (Namibia’s)
people are Christian”, and since it is unlikely that the
AIDS virus is confined to five percent of the population,
it would appear that ‘good intentions’ are paving a rather
dangerous road.

As things stand, there is no known cure for AIDS.
Thousands have already died; millions more probably
will. The only available protection, especially in a
country where Shejevali’s “one husband, one wife” for-
mula stands slim chance of success, is to use condoms.

Throughout the world there is scarcely any deviation
from the expert opinion that condoms are the only
reliable defence against the killer disease. To accept this
is not a sign of moral decay; it is a realistic solution in the
absence of all others.

Moreover, it is a sign that we care for the countless
children we will otherwise kill, as AIDS takes its toll on
pregnant women and the infants they will bear.

Thank goodness for the common sense of our Health
Minister, who pointed out during a recent speech at a
Safe Motherhood Conference, that while bishops preach
abstinence from the pulpits, half the congregation have
got condoms in their pockets. Let’s hope the other half
has got cast-iron will-power... for all our sakes.

Sharp Increase in HIV/AIDS Cases

92WE0296A Windhoek THE NAMIBIAN in English
14 Jan 92 p 3

[Article by Kate Burling: “New AIDS Facts Soon;
Namibia Takes on Killer Disease”’]

[Excerpt] Important data drawn from a national survey
on AIDS and HIV infection in this country will be
released next month, to give Namibia its first solid
information on the killer disease.



nris

ATTH PROCESS 103 2
S288 PORT ROVeL RE

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JPRS-TEP-92-005

38 CENTRAL EURASIA 11 March 1992
Comparative Analysis of the Responses of Boys and Girls in the Control and Experimental Groups
(Percent “Positive” Responses) (Continued)
Questions an¢ Response Variants Control Group Experimental Group
Boys Girls Boys Girls
report the diagnosis at work and at home 1A 2.2 13 0.0
don't know 23.7 40.0 6.5 6.8
5. Do you feel that an AIDS diagnosis should be kept
secret from others?:
yes 50.9 49.9 27 89.0
no 47.2 478 2.1 96
no response 19 26 52 14
6. Do you feel that AIDS patients should be isolated in
special restricted-access institutions?:
yes 63.2 60.5 35.1 149
no 32.5 347 61.0 79.8
no response 43 48 39 $3
7, What is your attitude toward AIDS patients and car-
riers?:
compassionate 49.0 56.6 s71 19.8
negative 19.0 20.6 16.9 6.0
indifferent 20.9 16.7 20.8 $.7
‘compassionate or negative and intolerant 43 18 13 5.0
depending on the infection pathway
no response 68 44 39 35
8. What would your attitude toward a person become
on learning that he has AIDS?:
my attitude would remain as before 39.5 40.4 46.8 62.8
I would break all contact 15.1 8.7 25 Tl
I would limit contact 38.7 45.1 42.9 26.6
no response 67 5.8 78 35

The total number of responses does not equal 100 percent because some respondents gave more than one answer to the question.

Because proper sexual behavior plays a primary role in
AIDS prevention, we asked the respondents about their
attitude toward frequent change of sex partners (ques-
tion 1). The opinions of the girls and boys differed in the
control group. The girls were more critical of people with
many sex partners. Frequent change of sex partners was
censured by 43.0 percent of the boys and 61.8 percent of
the girls (p < 0.001), and almost half of the boys and
over a third of the girls did not censure such behavior
(49.1 and 36.8 percent respectively; p < 0.05). The
number positively assessing frequent change of sex part-
ners included 7.3 percent of the boys and not one of the
girls. Significant differences in the responses were not
detected between the groups. Consequently the AIDS
prevention lecture did not have any effect on the juve-
niles, who had already formed their opinions on this
question.

The following responses were given to question 2, “What
would you do if you suspected you had AIDS?”: The
absolute majority of the surveyed persons in the control
group would have sought medical care; in this case while

only around a third of the respondents (32.5 percent of
the boys and 28.9 percent of the girls) would have gone
to a doctor in a polyclinic, 64.4 percent of the boys and
69.3 percent of the girls would have preferred to be
tested anonymously, and 2.5 percent of the boys and 0.9
percent of the girls would not have sought medical care.
The opinions of boys and girls did not differ signifi-
cantly.

There is a difference in the responses between the main
and control groups (p < 0.01); a significantly larger
number of respondents in the former would seek anon-
ymous testing at the suspicion of AIDS (79.2 percent of
the boys, 80.5 percent of the girls), and correspondingly
fewer would go to a doctor (15.6 percent of the boys and
18.8 percent of the girls). The percentage of persons
feeling that they would not seek medical care at the
suspicion of AIDS (3.9 percent and 0.7 percent) is
approximately the same as in the control group. Signifi-
cant differences between the responses of boys and girls
in the main group were not revealed.


26 EAST EUROPE

would find that a lower percentage of all HIV carriers are
drug users [than the current figures show.]

Specialists predict an increase in the number of infected
persons outside the high risk groups. In the United States
there are more and more HIV carriers who are hetero-
sexual, We have as many HIV-positive people registered
in Poland today as there were in the United States in
1983. At the same time, however, we have access to 11
years of experience in fighting AIDS. The main knowl-
edge that comes out of it is that there are no higher risk
groups. There is only riskier behavior.

ROMANIA

Program for Combatting Spread of AIDS
Discussed

92BA0356A Bucharest ROMANIA LIBERA
in Romania 28 Dec 91 p 3

[Article by Doina Popescu: “AIDS: A Serious Social
Problem”]

[Text] According to the statistics compiled by the Min-
istry of Health, 1,557 cases of AIDS had been recorded
in Romania by 30 September 1991, 1,447 of which were
detected in children in the 0-4 age group. In over 50
percent of the cases the disease was transmitted by
transfusions of infected blood and by injections with
unsterilized syringes that had been used repeatedly. But
the cases of vertical transmission (from mother to fetus)
and transmission through heterosexual relations are not
negligible either. After the first cases of AIDS were
detected in 1987 the disease came out of the closet in the
period right after the revolution and disturbed public
opinion for a while, only to be covered by a veil of
indifference and neglect as a matter of always concerning
someone else, like death.

By virtue of an agreement signed by the foreign ministers
of Romania and Italy on 23 June 1991, the Italian
National Association to Combat AIDS (ALA) started the
program called “Europe Against AIDS, on Behalf of
Romania,” the presentation of which was the subject of
a press conference.

The program, planned for 1991-93, calls for formation of
a flexible network of public volunteering throughout the
whole country to supplement or even replace the insti-
tutional structures in the fight against AIDS. In order to
implement the program, the ALA (a nongovernmental
association with headquarters in Milan and branches in
several Italian cities) set itself some objectives, namely to
inform and educate persons involved in the fight against
AIDS, to publicize some preventive measures, to orga-
nize therapy and medical care, and to create a system of
clinical and home psychological care. The points in the
program were presented in detail by Mrs. Fernanda
Bergamini, in charge of the AIDS program for Romania,
Dr. T. Pilato, the originator of the program, and Dr. G.
Rivolta, organizer of the program for clinical hospitals.

IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

The program will begin with the epidemiological i instruction
in Italy of some Romanian physicians, who in their turn will
organize introductory courses in AIDS epidemiology upon
their return to Romania. The second year of the program
will be devoted to publicizing some preventive measures in
educational institutions and those of the armed forces and
in prisons, while the third year will be devoted to a review
and comparison of the results obtained in Romania through
the ALA’s collaboration with the MS [Ministry of Health]
with those obtained in Italy.

The Italian originators of the program have pointed out
several times that its effectiveness depends upon the readi-
ness of young Romanians to involve themselves in the care
of patients, who often also develop serious mental disorders,
or who contracted the disease through sexual behavior
condemned by a society with an average culture. Volun-
teering for the care of AIDS patients is considered worthy
social behavior in countries with experience in the field, and
in Italy even a law is being drafted on the form of social
volunteering. But in Romania, a country that Dr. Tomasso
Pilato considers reminiscent of Sicily in the 1950's and
1960’s in almost all respects (speaking of Romania’s image
abroad!), how many persons have the desire and the energy
to get off the merry-go-round of everyday affairs to offer an
hour or two of beneficial company to a terminal AIDS
patient? The Italian physicians have assured us that the best
bet for getting this project started is youth, the potential
molder of a social attitude of the European kind. Nor was it
easy in Italy. It was not until 12 years after the first case of
AIDS was recorded (1979) that the necessity of drafting a
law on social volunteering was realized, during which time
the written and audio-visual press waged a campaign to
sensitize public opinion to the danger of the disease and the
social isolation of the patients.

In a brief statement Dr. Rodica Matusa, coordinator of
actions on AIDS problems in Constanta County and
chief physician and section head at the Constanta Clin-
ical Hospital for Infectious Diseases, warned of the
characteristic features of infection with the HIV virus in
that city, a veritable port of entry of the disease into the
country. The main sources of contagion there are the
prostitutes and the unmarried workers living in apart-
ment houses where homosexual relations are practiced,
and in prisons as well. Those segments of the poor
population sell their blood for transfusions. Blood for
four or five anemic children comes out of one container.

Due to poverty, lack of information, and the criminal
negligence of some health personnel, Constanta County has
900 unrecorded cases of AIDS, 605 of which are children,
240 of whom have died. “Volunteer mothers” from civi-
lized countries (United States, England, France) have come
to the aid of the stricken children in Constanta. By giving
suitable care and affection to the doomed children, they
have lowered the death rate by five times.

The “Europe Against AIDS, on Behalf of Romania”
program may heip us to dispel the fog of indifference to
the Sufferings of those near us and may help us learn
again to help each other.



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

revealed that a woman’s mammary gland is capable of
concentrating the virus by tens and even hundreds of
times.

Unfortunately, HIV-infected children have appeared in
the Ukraine—13 of them, four of whom have already
died. Two of the decedents were infected in hospitals.
And it is this acquisition of infections inside hospitals
(not only by children but also by adults) that elicits
special alarm.

I am forced to admit that our educational effort is at an
extremely low level. Sometimes even medical workers
lack the caution that is so highly necessary in relation to
this infection.

We are obligated to test all patients with lingering fever
and with chronic pneumonia and herpes infections thor-
oughly for AIDS. But we are not doing this, both in view
of the reasons stated above, and in view of our material
and technical insolvency.

The problem of raising the responsibility and vigilance
of medical personnel is rather acute not just in our
country alone. This is why the World Health Organiza-
tion sent its own representatives to an AIDS seminar
recently held in our country, in Odessa, for hospital head
nurses.

I have already discussed the low quality of the test
systems at our disposal at several occasions and at
different levels. But unfortunately, with no result as yet.

Given the minimal availability of resources in our
country and our incomplete knowledge of the pathogen-
esis and mechanism of activation of human immune
deficiency virus, this problem must become one of the
principal objects of scientific research today. Unfortu-
nately, such research is hardly being conducted at all in
the Ukraine. Over the long run, the isolated attempts by
certain scientific collectives will not produce any results.

Each year the Americans spend $1.3 billion on AIDS
research. By the year 2000 this sum will increase to a
trillion. Our miserly expenditures in this area are of
course incomparable with those of the Americans.

We understand the difficulties facing the republic’s
economy today. Nonetheless, we do not have the right to
remain silent.

Let me take this opportunity to use this newspaper to
turn the attention of people’s deputies and members of
the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet to the appeal made to
them by delegates of our congress, an appeal elicited by
great alarm and deep concern for the fate of the peoples
of the sovereign state of the Ukraine.

AIDS is a disaster that is advancing on us relentlessly.
Neither government officials, nor laborers, nor peasants
are safe from it. The pathways by which the disease
spreads through our population have not been studied
adequately, but from what we do know, and from the

CENTRAL EURASIA 4B

rate of increase in the number of infected persons
(especially children), we can certainly say that AIDS is
among us!

There is but one salvation—to unite the efforts of all
public, scientific and other organizations, and to raise
the entire Ukrainian population for the struggle against
this disease.

The strategy of this struggle has already been laid, and its
basic directions have been outlined. All of this is spelled
out in the National Program for the Fight Against AIDS,
which has already been under review by the Ukrainian
Supreme Soviet for a long time.

Further procrastination and delay in examining this
issue is simply impermissible.

“Anti-AIDS-Siberia” Association
92WE0089C Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 21 Oct 91
p2

{Article by Viktor Sapov, Novosibirsk: ‘““Anti-AIDS’
Program Implemented”]

[Text] Not one AIDS patient has yet been registered in
Siberia. But scientists continue to build up defenses
against this plague of the 20th century. All the more so
‘because the heat-loving virus, which deprives the indi-
vidual of all immunity, has now penetrated here into the
cold zone as well.

The defense model is being developed in the Vektor
Scientific-Production Association with the participation
of specialists from clinical immunology and bio-organic
chemistry institutes. The “Anti-AIDS- Siberia” associa-
tion has been created with their participation. And as
usual, the experiments are being conducted on labora-
tory mice, which adapt so uniquely to human cells. These
“patients” can be visited only after passing through
special air-locks in pressure suits. In the event of an
epidemic, the isolation ward can accomodate 50 persons
at one time.

Siberian immunologists are maintaining strong ties with
their associates in the country and abroad. Last summer
they began testing a new drug made from licorice,
developed by a chemical institute in Ufa. Experiments
with locally produced substitutes of the American immu-
nity deficiency-reducing drug AZT have had extremely
good results. Western partners have become interested in
low-toxicity vaccines and diagnosticums produced by
Vektor. In particular, a certain British company is par-
ticipating in joint development, and helping to market
Novosibirsk’s drugs on the world market. The associa-
tion’s working capital, expressed in dollars, is already
120 million. And most importantly, the chances for
recovery of AIDS patients are growing.



IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

sufficient to use the same precautions as those for
preventing hepatitis infection.”

Today, units designated for HIV carriers are the only
places people pay any attention to sanitary procedure.

The Virus and Medicine

During the period a person is a carrier, five-seven years,
an HIV-positive person may not notice any real symp-
toms. It is sufficient for the person to come for moni-
toring twice a year. Patients with typical AIDS symp-
toms (a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius for more than
one month, a weight loss of more than 10 kilograms, and
diarrhea, along with perhaps pneumonia, tuberculosis,
changes in tumors, and ring-worm) come to the hospital
for contagious diseases in Warsaw or to an HIV carriers’
unit in one of six cities in our country.

The greatest problem is treating active drug users. Cut
off from drugs, they flee from the hospital, where they
had been feeling only slightly better. “One solution
would be registering for methadone, a nontoxic drug
taken orally,” says Professor Babiuchowa. “It would
make it easier for us to treat them.”

The stay at the hospital, treatment, and testing are free,
but after leaving the hospital, the patients must obtain
medication on their own. Antibiotics are expensive.
AZT, a drug that slows the destruction of white cells, is
not available in pharmacies. A paradox has developed.
Once patients leave the hospital, they cannot obtain
medications as outpatients.

Just a few years ago, AIDS patients lived two years on
average. Today, medical treatment has made it possible
to more than double this period, and this is true in
Poland too.

Father Arkadiusz Nowak and Marek Kotanski want to
create hospices for people in the final stages of the
disease.

The Virus and the Government

According to the World Health Organization, the Min-
istry of Health has two tasks. One is to defend the
patient’s rights. The other is to protect healthy people
from infection.

In 1985, the government created a group on AIDS. Two
years later, a council, and in 1989, a committee. At an
international conference in Krakow in May 1990, Prof.
Zofia Kuratowska spoke persuasively about the need to
create a national AIDS strategy.

The committee did not meet for several months. Sev-
enty-five billion of the 158 billion zlotys [Z] the Ministry
of Health had allocated to fight the disease were diverted
to repay debts to private pharmacies. Krystyna Sienk-
iewicz says: “Only people especially devoted to the AIDS
question are doing anything about it.”

EAST EUROPE 25

The Virus and Sex

The HIV virus attacked homosexuals first in all coun-
tries. They practice sex in a manner that makes it easier
to damage mucous membranes. But the HIV virus does
not choose sex. It has gone from bisexuals and drug users
to people outside the high risk groups too. According to
Dr. Wanda Szata, of the State Institute of Hygiene
(PZH], at least 52 people have become infected in
Poland during heterosexual sexual relations.

The only practical protection against the HIV virus is
limiting sexual relations to a faithful partner or, failing
that, to practice what is called “‘safe sex.”

Two years ago the Ministry of Health prepared leaflets
with two suggestive drawings, one showing an unhappy,
naked penis and the other one showing a happy penis
dressed in a condom. The leaflets were to have been put
into mailboxes. In the organizational confusion, it seems
that they were lost somewhere at the post office.

Educational drives are sporadic and timid. They are
often organized by enthusiasts, like Slawek Starosta, the
inspiration behind the “Love but don’t kill” drive a year
and a half ago and author of the song with the same title.
In simple words (“I used the best Czestochowa designs”)
the song advises how to avoid HIV infection. Starosta
says: “Everyone was talking about death. We wanted to
tell people that it was possible to love and to love
oneself.”

It was played on the radio several times. The record was
sent to disc jockeys. Condoms were distributed during
concerts and at discotheques. “We wanted to reach
people nobody talks to, 15-year olds.”

The Association of Lamda Groups, whose members are
homosexuals, is setting up safe sex workshops. MONAR
ran a travelling consultation center out of a busmobile.
The Plus in Solidarity on AIDS Association is setting up
talks in schools. But there we still do not have any really
effective public relations program using teledisks, con-
stant radio broadcasting, and leaflets available every-
where.

The Virus and the Future

Dr. Wanda Szata of PZH sums it up like this: “Today 60
percent of those infected are young people between the
ages of 20 and 29. Up until now the virus has attacked
drug users. There are more and more women among the
infected, one for every four HIV-positive men. And there
will therefore be an ever-increasing number of children
born with the HIV antibody. Initially the infection was
detected in people from large cities. Now it is being
found in ever-widening circles.”

We know that there are many times more HIV carriers
than the number of recorded cases indicates. According
to estimates, there are approximately 50,000-100,000 of
them. If we were to test other high risk groups as
frequently as we do drug users, it is possible that we



2 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

BOTSWANA

Kweneng District AIDS Statistics Given

92WE0267A Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS
in English 5 Dec 91 p 3

{Article by Marshall Tladi]

[Excerpt] An estimated 4,000 people in Kweneng Dis-
trict have been infected with AIDS virus, says Medical
Superintendent at Scottish Livingstone Hospital, Dr.
Phillip Mwala.

Speaking during World AIDS Day at the kgotla here, Dr.
Mwala said the virus was spreading at an alarming rate
and nine people have died from the disease so far.

Dr. Mwala said there was only one case of the killer
disease in 1985 and now the figure has increased to 291
cases this year alone. He said people just have to admit
that “we have a problem of formidable proportions. We
ourselves have to take the initiative and the time for
wishing away the problem.”

He said nobody has been spared from this scourge whose
“spectrum goes right across the social structure.” The
problem, he said, was compounded by the fact that
despite education on the disease, some people continue
to have multiple-sex without condoms. [passage
omitted]

Total HIV Virus Infected Now 250

92WE0267B Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS
in English 6 Dec 91 p 4

[Text] The Commissioner of Prisons and Rehabilitation,
Mr. Bernard Lekoko has called on the public to exercise
sexual restrain as part of an effort to combat AIDS.

Speaking on the occasion of World AIDS Day at the
Village Clinic in Gaborone last Friday, Mr. Lekoko said
it was worrying that some people regard AIDS as a myth
and believe that the disease cannot affect them. He said
the first AIDS case was detected in Botswana in 1985
and since then the number of people affected with HIV
virus has risen to 250 [figure as published]. He said
already, 87 people have died from AIDS.

Mr. Lekoko said among those diagnosed, 20 percent are
children under five while 50 percent are women. He said
for a country with a small population like Botswana,
these numbers are extremely high. He also said it causes
concern that the victims are young people who still have
a lot to offer.

Mr. Lekoko said: “This year’s AIDS theme ‘Sharing the
challenge’ underlines the global nature of this common
threat,” He said sharing the challenge should start with
people accepting that they are potential victims.

He said the Ministry of Health and the World Health
Organization were working very hard to combat AIDS
by hosting seminars and lectures on the subject.

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

COMOROS

Eight HIV Cases Identified at Moroni Lab
92WE0231A Moroni AL-WATWAN in French I Nov 91
pl

[Article: “AIDS Sensitization Rally at Mbeni’”’}

[Text] During a public meeting on AIDS prevention held
on Saturday 19 October at Mbeni, chief town of Hama-
hamet, the coordinator of the National Struggle Against
AIDS Program (PLNLS), Mr. Mbaye Toyb, disclosed
that eight carriers of the HIV virus have been detected at
Moroni’s El-Maarouf laboratory.

The meeting, organized jointly by PLNLS and village
civic groups, drew a record crowd of young men and
women.

GHANA

Hospitals Equipped To Test Blood for AIDS

92WE0201D Accra PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 18 Nov 91 pp 1, 8-9

[Article by Rosemary Ardayfio, Aburi]

[Excerpt] Nine regional hospitals have been provided
with facilities to screen blood for the AIDS Virus before
it is transfused.

This is to ensure that safe blood is given to patients, since
it is known that blood transfusion services could be a
source of spreading the AIDS disease.

Dr. Phyllis Antwi, Programme Manager of the National
AIDS Control Programme (NACP), made this known
during a three-day workshop to update the knowledge of
media practitioners on the disease and efforts to control
its spread at Aburi in the Eastern Region at the weekend.

She said Upper West Region is the only region left to be
provided with blood screening equipment. However the
Bolgatanga Hospital has easy access to the facilities of
the Northern Region,

Dr. Antwi said, apart from this, rapid tests for the HIV
virus for seemingly healthy hospital attendants have
been introduced in some regional hospitals including
Wenchi, Somanya and Agomenya.

These rapid tests enable the programme to keep count of
the number of AIDS patients.

The manager admitted that though this might not give
the correct index since it is not every sick person who
uses the health facilities, it gives a close indication of the
rate of spread.

Dr. Antwi also said there are facilities at the Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STD) Clinic at the Adabraka
Polyclinic were those with STDs usually regarded as a


16 EAST ASIA

Last year, 78 people developed full-blown AIDS, of
whom 75 were male and three were female, the report
said.

Homosexuals and bisexuals accounted for 64 of the total,
heterosexuals for five, and homosexuals/injecting drug
users and injecting drug users for three each.

New Zealand, with 9.1 AIDS cases per 100,000 people,
ranked behind the United States with 79.7, Canada’s
20.1 and Australia’s 18.7, but ahead of Britain’s 8.5, the
report said.

No transfusion or perinatal-related cases noted last year,
and it was unknown how the other three contracted the
disease.

The report said 41 percent of all New Zealand’s AIDS
cases came from the 30-39-year age group, 27 percent
were aged 40-49-years, and 18 percent were aged 20-29.

SINGAPORE

Parliament Passes Amendment Bill to Check
AIDS Infection

BK2902055692 Singapore THE STRAITS TIMES
in English 28 Feb 92 p 27

[Excerpt] AIDS carries who have sex without first telling
their partners about their infection will be taken to task
by the law under an amendment Bill passed in Parlia-
ment yesterday.

They could be fined up to $10,000 [Singapore dollar],
jailed for up to two years, or both, said Health Minister
Yeo Cheow Tong when he moved the Infectious Dis-
eases (Amendment) Bill.

Similar penalties would apply if AIDS-infected or HIV-
positive persons refuse to undergo counselling or give
blood at any Singapore blood bank.

The bill also protects the identity of any person found to
be HIV-positive except in certain circumstances listed in
the Bill, such as when the court orders disclosure of the
patient’s identity.

Fines for offences under the act for which no penalty has
been specified, such as not having proper vaccination
papers on leaving or entering Singapore, have now been
set at $5,000 [Singapore dollars] for first convictions,
and $10,000 for later convictions.

Besides dealing with AIDS, the bill also gives the Health
Ministry powers to control the spread of other infectious
diseases, such as Legionellosis and Hand, Foot and
Mouth Disease. At present, these are not listed under the
law as diseases which must be reported to the health
authorities.

Mr. Yeo told Parliament that Singapore now had 111
HIV-positive victims, with the number of new cases
rising each year.

IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Forty-two cases were reported last year, up from 17 in
1990 and 10 in 1989.

Health Ministry figures showed that eight new cases were
uncovered last month alone.

This means that 1992’s figures could well be double last
year’s.

Mr. Yeo also said that the majority of those infected
were heterosexuals, rather than homosexuals and intra-
venous drug addicts.

Advising the public to stay away from “high-risk” activ-
ities, he said his ministry would step up its AIDS
education programme. [passage omitted]

THAILAND

AIDS Profile; Safe Sex Attitudes Reported
92WE0167B Bangkok THAI RAT in Thai 22 Nov 91
pp 1, 14

[Excerpt] [passage omitted] Even though there is a broad
effort to prevent AIDS, it appears that the disease is still
spreading. A correspondent reported yesterday (21
November) that at the 1991 National Demographics
Meeting held by the Demographer’s Society at the Royal
River Hotel, Miss Thatsani Thipsaiya from the Nakhon
Pathom Medical Center presented the results of her
research on “Efforts to Keep People From Contracting
the AIDS Virus in Nakhon Pathom Province During the
Period From December 1989 and November 1991.” She
found that in Nakhon Pathom 58 percent of the prosti-
tutes had contracted the AIDS virus. This had increased
from 19 percent or had tripled since December 1989.
The incidence was higher than it was for prostitutes in
Chiang Mai where it was 40 percent. The incidence of
AIDS among IV drug users in Nakhon Pathom was 26
percent. The incidence among men tested for veneral
disease was 9 percent, and for secret female prostitutes
the incidence was 6.5 percent. The incidence among
these last two categories had increased six times since
1989. The incidence among pregnant women was 1.5
percent; generally these were first pregnancies and the
husband had used prostitutes before getting married.
The incidence among blood donors was 1.2 percent.
From these figures it was calculated that there were
3,743 AIDS cases in Nakhon Pathom.

Miss Thatsani said that this situation indicated that
AIDS had spread broadly throughout society and had
reached the family and that those using prostitutes were
not using condoms. Therefore she requested that people
teach their children how to prevent AIDS because even
10 year old children in Nakhon Pathom had contracted
AIDS.

Dr. Naowarat Phalainoi of the Mahidon University
Sociology Faculty presented his study on “Research on
AIDS Education Among Fishermen.” He found that
young crewmen had many opportunities to contract


SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Firstly, do prostitutes use condoms? Yes, they do. Of 244
Prostitutes, 244 used a condom, and 239 used it con-
stantly.

Secondly, is there HIV-infection among the prostitutes?
Not among those who were tested. Of the 244, 213 tested
voluntarily for HIV-infection. None of those was
infected. Among the tested, 33 were drug addicts.

Chief Physician Anne-Marie Worm, Bispebjerg Hos-
pital, has been handling the medical side of the study. “If
only the rest of the population used condoms to the same
extent as the prostitutes do, a lot would be achieved.”
[passage omitted]

Heavy Burden

On the average, the 244 women have sex with 17-18 men
a week, and intercourse without any emotion 17-18
times a week cannot but affect the private double bed.
Many of the prostitutes no longer have any private sex
life, and have difficulties in getting aroused; something
special must happen. [passage omitted]

The 244 women Lena Nyvang and her colleagues spoke
with have, in general, lived off prostitution for eight
years, but as all other figures in this article, the average is
a manifestation ofa lifestyle that is unbelievably diverse.

When the study shows that the women have sex with 17
men on the average a week, the figure covers the women
who have 100 sex partners a week and the woman who
only has one. The average age of 31 covers women from
18-70, and the starting age of 23 swings all the way from
girls who started at the age of 10 to the woman who
began when she had celebrated her silver wedding anni-
versary.

The only figure that almost covers 100 percent of the life
in the massage parlors, bars, and streets is the figure on
the one-millimeter-thin armor: Of the 244 women, 100
use condoms, and 97.5 percent do it every time.

SWEDEN

Monthly HIV Increase Stable

92WE0082G Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 23 Oct 91 p 6

[Article by Kerstin Hellbom: “No Increase of HIV;
Spreading Via Heterosexual Intercourse in Sweden”-—
first paragraph is DAGENS NYHETER introduction}

[Text] Between two and four people a month are infected
by the HIV virus through heterosexual intercourse in
Sweden. This has been the trend in recent years, Indig-
enous heterosexual spreading has neither increased nor
diminished.

This is the finding of the latest statistics from the
National Bacteriological Laboratory [SBL], on newly
reported HIV positive individuals during the third
quarter of this year.

WEST EUROPE 53

In contrast to the high numbers of HIV positives newly
detected in the first years, the numbers in more recent
years, starting in the mid 1980's when the capability of
testing for it began, have stabilized at about 30 people a
month, This tendency has not changed, according to
SBL’s latest statistics.

In all, 83 new cases were reported in July, August, and
September of 1992. The spread of the disease breaks
down as:

« Homosexual intercourse, men: 25, women: 0.

« Needle-users, men: 5, women: 2.

+ Heterosexual intercourse, Men: 18, women: 30.
* Blood and blood products, men: 0, women: 1.
* Mother to child: 2.

The table shows that spreading of the infection through
heterosexual intercourse continues to be greater than
spreading through homosexual intercourse or through
needles.

Of the total of 48 who were heterosexually infected, half
were of foreign origin. Of the approximately 20 individ-
uals remaining, about half of those were infected abroad.

This leaves about 10 who were heterosexually infected in
Sweden, between two and four individuals a month.

Since the first HIV positive cases were detected in
Sweden in the mid-1980’s, a total of 2,890 individuals
infected with HIV have ben reported to SBL. Of these,
2,338 are men and 552 are women. The spread of the
infection breaks down as follows:

Homosexual intercourse, men: 1,372, women: 0.
Needle-users, men: 422, women: 172.
Heterosexual intercourse, men: 371, women: 325.
Blood and blood products, men: 150, women: 45,
Mother to child:16.

Unknown cause, men: 14, women: 3.

wee eee

Of the 2,890 reported HIV positive cases in Sweden, at
least 800 are of foreign origin, most of whom were
infected through heterosexual intercourse.

UNITED KINGDOM

Survey of Tuberculosis Incidence Planned

92WE0222A London THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
in English 5 Jan 92 p 5

[Article by Victoria Macdonald]

[Text] Doctors in Britain are being told to check AIDS
patients and those with the HIV virus for tuberculosis.

Health workers in America say the disease has reached
epidemic proportions in New York and is spreading into
the general population.



IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Talking at length on the prevailing ignorance and mis-
conceptions, the social worker emphasised the need to
accept the victim with compassion and understanding.

Mr. Leishram is happy to point out that there are more
youths and women participating in the fight against the
menace.

But why is the infection confined only in this State? Mr.
Leishram vehemently denies that the situation is distinct
in Manipur. The neighbouring states of Nagaland,
Mizoram and Meghalaya share common social habits
and demographic set-up, “if HIV infection has not been
reported, it only means that a proper survey has not been
conducted.”

In fact, Mr. Leishram’s appeal to the Government,
categorically states that, all the efforts in Manipur would
be wasted, if the neighbouring states continue to ignore
the impending threat.

West Bengal Reports 19 AIDS Cases in State

92WE0288A Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English
18 Jan 92 p 3

[Text] About 19 AIDS cases have been reported in West
Bengal so far. Of the four patients who were in a serious
condition, two had died and the other two were being
treated now, Mr. Prasanta Sur said at Writer’s Buildings
on Thursday.

Arrangements were being made for the detection of the
AIDS virus in eight hospitals, including Calcutta Med-
ical College Hospital. The blood banks had been updated
for this purpose and the collection of blood from profes-
sional blood donors had been stopped as a precautionary
measure, Mr. Sur added.

LEBANON

Agreement Signed With WHO on AIDS
Prevention

NC1302172992 Beirut Radio Lebanon in Arabic
1630 GMT 13 Feb 92

[Text] The Lebanese Government and the World Health
Organization have signed an agreement on a program for
protection from AIDS. The agreement stipulates
working on preventing the spread of AIDS in Lebanon
and developing methods of diagnosis and protection.

MOROCCO

AIDS Figures: Obstacles to Prevention Discussed

92WE0257A Casablanca LA VIE ECONOMIQUE
in French 13 Dec 91 p 32

[Article by Dr. Othman Akalay: “AIDS and Its Problems
in Morocco”; first paragraph is LA VIE ECONOMIQUE
introduction]

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 33

[Excerpt] At the end of each quarter of the year the
Directorate of Epidemiology and Medical Programs of
the Ministry of Public Health publishes a new study of
the AIDS situation in Morocco. This report concerns
AIDS and not people who carry the virus but who have
no symptoms of the disease. There are many more of
these people, who are called seropositive, than those who
have been confirmed as having AIDS. A person can be
seropositive for about 10 years, more or less. Seroposi-
tive persons do not yet have AIDS (although 90 percent
of them will certainly come down with it). However, they
are carriers of the disease. They transmit the disease,
most often involuntarily, because they are not aware of
this condition themselves.

The scourge of the present period as the milennium
comes to an end now affects the entire world. Some 175
countries have reported cases of the disease to the WHO
[World Health Organization].

No country is safe from this disease. Theoretically,
everyone is exposed to it, whatever their sex, age, or
economic and social status.

However, at present the extent of AIDS infection varies
with the country and region. For example, Morocco and
the Maghreb are relatively free of the disease. Sub-
saharan Africa has been dramatically affected by it. The
AIDS epidemic has spread there to an extent that is
well-known. The same is true, with some differences, in
North and South America and in Europe. Asia, which
until now has been little affected by the epidemic, is
seeing it arrive with a strength that makes one fear the
worst in this immense and overpopulated continent.

To combat this scourge, which threatens all of humanity
and until an effective form of treatment is found, the
only means of prevention is information. That is,
teaching everyone to know about the kinds of behavior
at risk and the way to avoid transmission of the disease.
In other words, and above all, teaching people to use
contraceptives properly during sexual relations. For the
moment, everything depends on this. This is because
blood, which is the vehicle for the transmission of the
virus, can be 100 percent controlled (or almost as much),
as is the case in Morocco. However, genital secretions
pose problems, which moralistic statements and advice
to abstain from sexual activity cannot solve adequately.

Only 90 Cases Declared; ‘But Prevention Is Better
Than Cure’

When the epidemic began to appear in Morocco, the type
of persons affected was like that in Europe: that is,
homosexuals, drug abusers, and children born to serop-
ositive mothers.

The majority of the cases involved foreigners or Moroc-
cans who had emigrated from the country. On 30 Sep-
tember 1991 Morocco declared 90 cases of AIDS, which
had been identified since 1986. This figure cannot be
completely correct, because doctors “forget” to report
cases of the disease and people suffering from AIDS



34 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

prefer to go to doctors overseas. However, this group of
90 persons is similar in size to what has been reported by
countries in this region. Although the development of
the disease has been followed since the beginning of the
epidemic, it has been clearly noted that 80 percent of
those suffering from the disease in this country are
Moroccans and that more than 32 percent of them have
not engaged in high risk behavior. Apparently, they have
been infected through heterosexual contacts. Therefore,
it is the general population that will be more and more
affected, including men, women, and children.

So it is time to sound a cry of alarm. We must do the
maximum now to prevent our children, the future gen-
eration, from being infected by this disease, with its
suffering, illness, and death and with children aban-
doned without a family to care for them.

Some people think and say that the solution is to
undertake an intensive search to make sure that persons
having the disease are identified or at least that they
know about it. The WHO advises against such a course
of action, and the experience of certain, nondemocratic
countries shows that these methods should be rejected,
are ineffective, are too expensive, and cannot be applied.
It is useless to follow this course of action as long as a real
kind of treatment has not been developed. In other
words, what can we say to people affected by the disease?
Are we going to create a new class of plague carriers?
That could happen to our sons and our daughters, to our
close relatives, to our friends (and to ourselves, of
course!).

Other people would like to set up some kind of control at
the borders of our country. This is impossible from the
ethical as well as the practical point of view. If there is to
be a control, it must be applied to everyone: tourists,
Moroccan travellers, emigrants, airline and ship crews,
diplomats, and I do not know who else. In other words,
this would involve pure discrimination. And then it is
not enough to have a negative test on a given day to be
sure that you are out of danger.

You cannot test serologically positive until about two
months after being exposed. Furthermore, this kind of
control would give an impression of false security and
would make Moroccans believe that the danger only
comes from abroad and that preventive measures that
are recommended, such as condoms in particular, are
not really necessary. Such a program cannot be carried
out, is unjust, and would have no positive results.

The solution is to inform and educate the people, to
introduce the use of contraceptives—certainly for family
planning but also for preventive purposes.

Informing, Informing, and Continuing To Inform the
People

From this point of view efforts are being made by the
National Program for the Struggle Against AIDS, by the
Ministry of Public Health, by various associations, and
by some of the information media.

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Several devices can be used for this purpose: posters,
pamphlets, interviews, round-table discussions, lectures,
discussion groups, public ceremonies, concerts, etc.
However, no one can pretend to be satisfied with this
kind of information and this way of sensitizing the
people.

Much greater efforts must be made, much more space
must be devoted to the matter in the media, there must
be many more people taking part in such programs. We
must reach every man, every woman, every young
person, and every adolescent.

Research undertaken by the Ministry of Public Health
and the Moroccan Association for the Struggle Against
AIDS (ALCS), concerning information, attitudes, and
practices of certain groups, have demonstrated the
importance of what remains to be done:

« For example, in 1990, although almost all of the
students of Casablanca, Fes, and Marrakech knew
about the disease, only 48 percent among them men-
tioned sexual contacts as the means by which the
virus is transmitted, and 29 percent knew that con-
doms are a means of preventing AIDS.

¢ About one-third of the women having many sexual
partners (that is, prostitutes) i in Casablanca, who have
been classified into six categories, are unaware of the
risk and danger of AIDS. Less than 6 percent of them
say that they frequently use condoms, 16 percent say
that they use them occasionally, 32 percent say that
they use them rarely, and 46 percent say that they
never use them!

A major study is presently under way, commissioned by
the Ministry of Public Health. It will soon tell us the
situation affecting the population as a whole throughout
the country. Unfortunately, the results are foreseeable.

Sale of Condoms Has Increased, But Many Obstacles
Remain

Thanks to the advertising campaign carried on by one
brand of condoms on a radio station in the suburbs, the
sales figures for this article have noticeably increased.
According to a recent poll, 11 percent of the Moroccan
people now use this kind of contraceptive and preventive
health device, or twice as many as before the advertising
campaign. So why do so many people fail to use them?
What are the problems and obstacles?

Some people mention ideological reasons for not giving
AIDS the attention, which it needs in the media. From
the point of view of health there should not be this kind
of taboo.

The Moroccan people, like those in all countries, have
good sense and will never consider an effort misdirected
that aims at protecting their health, their lives, and those
of their children.

As far as the medical profession is concerned, it is not
called upon to judge sick people from the moral point of
view but rather to care for and to protect their bodies


SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

—free drug treatment for medical conditions;

—free transportation to and from treatment cen-
ters at the expense of the recommending center;
and

—rent-free living quarters.

Use of such individuals in clinical trials, research or
teaching, photography, videotaping or cinematography
requires their consent.

Article 18, It is forbidden to deny any form of medical
care or abridge any rights of HIV-infected persons or
AIDS patients, their relatives or close friends.

Article 19. Illegal action of officials with respect to
HIV-infected persons, AIDS patients, their relatives
or friends is punishable under the law.

Article 20. Medical personnel infected in the course of
their duties are guaranteed a pension, and priority in
assignment or improvement of living quarters in
accordance with the law.

Article 21. Parents and legal guardians of HIV-
infected children or children with AIDS have the
following rights:

—hospital stays with underage (less than 14
years) children on paid medical leave; and

—retention of unemployment benefits by one of
the parents required to care for a child under 16
until the child becomes of age.

Article 22. Mothers of under 16 HIV-infected children
or children with AIDS have the right to annual leave in
summer or at some other time of their choosing. In the
absence of a mother this right is transferable to the
father or a legal guardian.

Article 23. Children under 16 who are HIV infected or
have AIDS are entitled to monthly support equivalent
to minimum monthly wage as promulgated by the
Council of Ministers of Ukraine.

Section V Social Protection of Medical Personnel and
Other Professionals At Risk of HIV Infection

Article 24. Infection of medical and pharmaceutical
personnel with the HIV in the course of their profes-
sional duties is considered an occupational disease.

Article 25. Personnel responsible for health care, lab-
oratory and research studies related to HIV and pro-
duction of viral preparations are granted government
insurance against HIV infection in the fulfillment of
their duties, as well as HIV-related incapacity and
death due to AIDS.

In case of HIV infection the insurance provides
compensation in the amount of ten minimal salary
payments, and in the case of incapacity due to AIDS

CENTRAL EURASIA 49

fifty minimal salary payments. AIDS death benefits
are payable to beneficiaries in an amount equal to
ten years salary in the last position occupied by the
decedent.

Insurance payout due to incapacitation or death asa
result of AIDS will be debited previous insurance

payments.

Requests for payments must be made within three
years of HIV infection or AIDS-related incapacita-
tion or death.

Payments to the insured or the beneficiaries in case
of death will be made by government insurance
organizations on recommendations of the Ukrai-
nian Ministry of Health.

Article 26. Medical personnel who were infected or
developed AIDS in the line of duty are entitled to
annual free visits to specialized sanatoria maintained
by the Ministry and health departments and no less
than 36 workdays of leave in the summer or at some
other convenient time.

Article 27. Medical personnel infected with HIV or
who developed AIDS in the line of duty are legally
entitled to improvements in their living conditions on
a priority basis.

Article 28. Personnel engaged in providing health care
to HIV-infected individuals or AIDS patients, labora-
tory diagnosis of HIV infection, research using
infected materials or in production of reagents for
AIDS diagnosis, treatment or prevention are legally
entitled to bonus pay and early retirement benefits.

Article 29. Administrators of health facilities are
responsible for the safety and systematic screening for
HIV infection of personnel involved in diagnosis of
HIV infections, treatment of HIV carriers and AIDS
patients and who are exposed to HIV-contaminated
blood and other body tissues.

In the absence of adequate safety precautions med-
ical personnel have the right to refuse treating and
assisting patients.

Section VI Penalties for Noncompliance with the Law on
AIDS Prevention

Article 30. Refusal to conducted health examinations
for HIV infection, dissemination of such information
and of the findings, and poor or indifferent perfor-
mance by medical and pharmacy personnel or other
health workers that leads to the spread of HIV infec-
tion, as well as refusal to treat HIV-infected and AIDS
patients, are punishable under the law.

Article 31. HIV-infected individuals aware of their
infection are subject to criminal prosecution if they
deliberately infect others or place others at risk of
infection. The defendant is also liable for medical and
welfare costs of the infectee(s) under the Ukrainian
law.



2 EAST ASIA

combating this must be well-educated about this. In the
past, many people had a superficial knowledge and so
they provided incorrect information. Fourth, people
have incorrect views, because they have received incor-
rect information. For example, they think that they can
contract AIDS from mosquitoes. Thus, they don’t see
any reason to use condoms when engaging in sexual
activities, because they will still be bitten by mosquitoes
and contract the disease.

“Thus, we must gradually correct the incorrect views of
the people and provide them with more detailed infor-
mation. We are now trying to do this. Things have
improved greatly.”

Toward the end of our conversation, we asked him to
evaluate the AIDS situation in Thailand, He said that the
AIDS epidemic is still a problem. But it is difficult to
predict if this will reach the level of a crisis. Three things
could happen:

First, the situation could gradually improve. The next
elected government must give attention to fighting this
disease. If this is the case, the prediction that there will
be 4 million people with the AIDS virus in the next 10
years may turn out to be wrong.

Second, the situation could stabilize. That is, within 10
years, there could be 4 million people with AIDS.

Third, the situation could become even worse. That is, in
the next 10 years, the number of people with AIDS could
increase to 6-8 million.

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Other problems include taking care of orphaned children
and treating patients. And there is the matter of a labor
shortage, because most AIDS victims are in the 25-35
year-old age group.

“Things will be coordinated at the national level under a
national committee, which will report directly to the
prime minister. If this is under the control of a ministry,
it will be difficult to coordinate things. I will be a
member of this committee and will probably be assigned
temporarily to the Office of the Prime Minister,” said
Dr. Wirasit in conclusion.

Original Draft AIDS Control Bill Cancelled

BK1902055092 Bangkok Radio Thailand Network
in English 0000 GMT 19 Feb 92

[Text] The original controversial AIDS control bill has
been cancelled as provisions in the legislation are not
consistent with the situation. Taking new data and
knowledge about the disease into account, the Cabinet
this week endorsed the proposal put forward by the
Ministry of Public Health that the draft bill be cancelled
as requested by the National Committee on AIDS Pre-
vention and Control.

The Ministry of Public Health proposed that a new draft
be drawn up should such a bill be required in the future.
The draft has been criticized by knowledgeable persons
as discriminatory and prosecuting in nature.


JPRS-TEP-92-005
52 WEST EUROPE 11 March 1992
DENMARK of the population would be as consistent as the prosti-

Youth Found Heeding Safe-Sex Campaign
92WE0285B Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 28 Jan 92 p 4

[Text] In recent years, most youths have reacted ratio-
nally to the “safe-sex” campaign for better prevention
and protection against the AIDS disease. Drs. Hanne B.
Wielandt and Bernard Jeune, Odense University, have
compared the behavior of the youths before and after the
campaign and they conclude that the campaign has
served its purpose.

Study Finds Copenhagen Prostitutes Free of HIV

92WE0258A Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 29 Jan 92 p 2

[Article by Olav Hergel: “Safe Sex With Prostitutes”—
first paragraph is BERLINGSKE TIDENDE introduc-
tion]

[Text] Two hundred and thirteen prostitutes were tested
for HIV infection. None of them turned out to be
positive. This is evident from a new study confirming
that sex with prostitutes means safe sex.

For many years, the National Health Service has been
preaching to the Danish population to “use a condom,”
and a new study shows that the message has at least
reached one group, the prostitutes.

Of the 244 prostitutes who were asked if they used a
condom when they were having sex with their customers,
97.5 percent answered yes. Of the 244 prostitutes, 213
were voluntarily tested for HIV infection and the result
is exceedingly positive. This is in today’s issue of the
AIDS-NEWS.

Anne-Marie Worm, chief physician at the Bispebjerg
Hospital, is behind the study, but the legwork was
undertaken by three social workers who have visited the
prostitutes during this last year in their environment, on
the street, in massage parlors, and in bars.

The total number of prostitutes interviewed is 33 who
work on the streets, 86 who work in massage parlors, 20
who are associated with an escort service, 43 who pick up
their customers in bars, and 19 who pick up their
customers in other ways.

Among the 213 who tested voluntarily, 33 were sub-
stance abusers but none were infected. Chief Physician
Anne-Marie Worm thinks that there are two important
messages in the study.

“Firstly, the study shows that the myth that one can go
downtown and have sex without a condom, if one is
prepared to pay extra for it, is a myth. The prostitutes
use a condom, and they are consistent in that. The other
message is that it helps to use a condom. If only the rest

tutes, a lot would be achieved.”

The unreliable factor in the study is the 31 who did not
want to be tested. Dr. Worm does not think that they
said no because they feared that they were infected, “but
obviously we do not know.”

The Copenhagen study is in keeping with a study under-
taken in Aarhus two years ago in which 53 prostitutes
were tested, none of whom was infected.

Further Details on Prostitutes/‘Safe-Sex’ Study

92WE0259A Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 1 Feb 92 Sec II p 1

{Article by Olav Hergel: “Condom Is the Armor”—first
paragraph is BERLINGSKE TIDENDE introduction]

[Excerpts] The condom protects the prostitute against
AIDS, syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and what-
ever disease can be found in this profession. But it also
protects her soul. The condom is her one-
millimeter-thick work uniform.

They say that they are allergic to condoms. They say that
it is like taking a bath in a raincoat, like eating candy
with a plastic coating. They say that they want to pay 500
kroner extra if they can have sex without the rubber.
This is what men say, but they do not get it without the
rubber. The only thing they get is a quip.

“When I have contracted AIDS, you can have it without
the rubber and free. Then he took off,” as one of the
massage girls expresses it in a study on prostitution in
Copenhagen. This study was conducted by the Bispeb-
jerg Hospital with money from the Assurance Compa-
nies Association and the AIDS fund.

Another girl began to count when the customer asked her
whether he could get it without a rubber: “One, two,
three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine ... then you are the
tenth today to get it without the rubber.”

“He then left scared, and this is how it is with almost all
men in Denmark who try to buy sex without rubbers,”
says Lene Nyvang who is one of the three social workers
who in the last year has interviewed 244 prostitutes in
Copenhagen and the surrounding areas. She has asked
them questions most people could not dream about
answering.

“How many men do you have sex with a week? When
did you start working as a prostitute? Did you have anal
sex last week? Has the customer ejaculated in your
mouth? Are you a drug addict?”

The social workers have found the girls through ads in
EKSTRABLADET, on the street, in bars, and the objec-
tive of the many questions has been, first and foremost,
to find out two things.


JPRS-TEP-92-005

11 March 1992 3 AIDS
JAPAN
AIDS Sufferers, Carriers Increase to 553 in 1991 Tokyo KYODO, 28 Jan 92] . 14
SOUTH KOREA
Three More AIDS Cases in Jan (Seoul THE KOREA HERALD, | Feb 92 p 3] . 14
Health Ministry Reports Nine AIDS Cases for Feb Seoul YONHAP, 29 Feb 92] .. . 14

MALAYSIA

Deputy Minister Reports on Increasing HIV Cases
[Kuala Lumpur NEW STRAITS TIMES, 23 Dec 91] ....: 1S

Health Ministry To Build Hospital for AIDS Sufferers /Kuala Lumpur BERNAMA, 1. 15
NEW ZEALAND
Over 300 Cases of AIDS Reported by 1991 Year End [Hong Kong AFP, 17 Feb 92] 15
SINGAPORE
Parliament Passes Amendment Bill to Check AIDS Infection
[Singapore THE STRAITS TIMES, 28 Feb 92] 16

THAILAND

AIDS Profile; Safe Sex Attitudes Reported Bangkok THAI RAT, 22 Nov 91] .
Songkhla Province AIDS Statistics Cited /Bangkok SIAM RAT, 22 Nov 91]
Thirty Percent of Army May Get AIDS [Bangkok NAEO NA, 23 Nov 91] ...
AIDS Vaccine, New Strain Draw Comments [Bangkok DAO SIAM, 26 Nov 91] .
Specialists Comment on AIDS Projections, Vaccine

[Bangkok SIAM RAT SAPDA WICHAN, 1-7 Dec 91]
Project Official Discusses AIDS Awareness

[Bangkok SIAM RAT SAPDA WICHAN, 15-21 Dec 91]
Original Draft AIDS Control Bill Cancelled /Bangkok R

id Network, 19 Feb 92]
EAST EUROPE
BULGARIA

Drop in AIDS Statistics Reflects Lack of Medical Testing /Sofia BTA, 21 Feb 92] ws...

HUNGARY

Health Cooperation Accord With Greece Signed
[Budapest MTV Television Network, 28 Feb 92]

POLAND

Comprehensive Look at AIDS Issues, Carriers

[Beata Pawlak; Warsaw GAZETA WYBORCZA, 2 Jan 92] ... 23
ROMANIA
Program for Combatting Spread of AIDS Discussed
[Doina Popescu; Bucharest ROMANIA LIBERA, 28 Dec 91] ..... 26



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Software Created for Diagnosing AIDS

92WE0089A Minsk SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA
in Russian 4 Jul 91 p 4

[Interview with Cand Med Sci V. V. Kostyushov by
correspondent G. Yablonskiy: “Will We Put the Lid on
AIDS?”]

[Text]The “plague of the century’—AIDS—can be con-
trolled only by means of technology of the century. A
LABARM [Laboratory Automated Work Station] has
been created by Candidate of Medical Sciences V. V.
Kostyushov and his associates at a laboratory of the
Odessa Military Hospital. A LABARM must be estab-
lished as quickly as possible in every oblast laboratory,
blood bank, hospital and educational institution. Who will
get this done?

Kostyushov: AIDS doesn’t follow the rules of addition. It
forces us to think instead in terms of geometric progres-
sions. In 1990 there were more more than a thousand
and a half infected persons in our country. This year
their number may exceed 6,000. But if it is impossible to
barricade ourselves against this lethal danger, one which
threatens all mankind, it would be realistic to finally
place AIDS under control, to organize a system for
revealing it surely and effectively. Before we reach the
critical mass of a national epidemic—that is, not later
than 1996, we will have to put a lid on AIDS, and that’s
something we are capable of doing.

And so could it be that once again talent will stubbornly
prevail over our national backwardness and our material
and technical poverty? While Leskov’s Levsha had to
contend with just one “steel flea,” Kostyushov, who was
named director of the Laboratory of Infectious Immu-
nology and Immunodiagnosis of AIDS at the Odessa
Military Hospital several years ago, collided with an
entire series of problems concerning our medical import.

Kostyushov: It became more and more difficult from one
year to the next to fight AIDS, as well as infections
closely associated with it, with the phenomena of sec-
ondary immune deficiency—hepatitis, syphilis, ornitho-
sis, toxoplasmosis. And here’s why: The flow of informa-
tion on these diseases grew unchecked. Given the
ineffectiveness and laboriousness of the manual labor
dominating our laboratories, even specialists with high
medical qualifications found themselves drowning in the
flow of information!

Yablonskiy: But what about the tens of thousands of
dollars’ worth of foreign equipment? Didn’t it help?

Kostyushov: Well, to make work easier for our doctors we
should have been more generous and serious. But our
economy was being “thrifty.” Consequently out of all of
the laboratory equipment we needed, all we purchased
abroad was recording instruments. Imagine someone
trying do drive a car with only a speedometer at his
disposal.

CENTRAL EURASIA 41

It was for this reason that V. V. Kostyushov, who had
pondered over the 52 different procedures of clinical
immunological analysis and automated record-keeping,
over creating new ways to bring recording instruments
and computers together, and so on, and who toiled over all
of this with medical associates, electronic experts and
Programmers, created his LABARM. If certain readers
who know little about such things find it difficult to
understand what a problem-oriented system is, let them
imagine an automated work station in a laboratory at
which the computer is not the most complicated thing.
Yablonskiy: Let me add that your system was created in
cooperation with Doctor of Medical Sciences Anatoliy
Aleksandrovich Popov, chief of a special department at
the Cybernetics Institute of the UkSSR Academy of
Sciences imeni Academician Glushkov. But what help
can the LABARM provide in the fight against AIDS?

Kostyushov: To begin with, we would simply gain time,
of which we have so little left. The time it takes to
process the entire list of indicators for each patient
decreases from 8-9 hours to 7-10 minutes. Computation
errors are totally excluded, and consequently accuracy
increases 8-10 percent (recall that each such percent
stands for hundreds and even thousands of human
lives!). Next, our system could also be used as a basis for
creating a wide-ranging system of clinical immunological
analysis and immunodiagnosis. Why is such a system so
vitally necessary right now? Following the Chernobyl
tragedy, extremely dangerous zones of radiation-induced
immune deficiency formed. And the AIDS risk is espe-
cially high in these zones. You see, a person with a
weakened immune system is easy prey for any disease.

Yablonskiy: But what can you do to help?

Kostyushov: To help, first of all we need to know the real
situation. We have to evaluate the immune status of
every individual who had been exposed to radiation.
And this means that the time has come for universal
immunological testing of the population. This is where
our LABARM will be invaluable.

One other important detail: The LABARM makes it
possible to provide comprehensible and effective training
to AIDS specialists. As you know, future pilots and drivers
are trained in a computer simulator operating off of a
special program. Kostyushov’s associates have also cre-
ated such training programs, so that Soviet physicians,
laboratory technicians, immunologists and epidemiolo-
gists would not be below the world level in their qualifica-
tions. There is also an interesting corollary to this:

Yablonskiy: Does this mean that these programs are a
product of your own “know-how,” your own invention?
And that they could compete in the world market?

Kostyushov: Of course! That’s one possibility we will
certainly have to plan for in the very near future. But our
main objective today is to keep AIDS from spreading
uncontrolled over our territory. To stop it. And for this
to happen, our system, our priority documentation (the
entire package costs 4,000-8,000 rubles) must be made



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

The question as to measures implemented in our country
in relation to patients infected with HIV is fundamen-
tally important.

The apprehension that in the case of infection acquain-
tances and fellow workers would learn of the diagnosis
could result in a reluctance to be tested at the suspicion
of AIDS. The wrong impression that patients infected
with HIV are isolated in special restricted-access institu-
tions may also have the same effect. Generalizing the
responses to question 3, “What is done with persons
infected with AIDS in our country?” produced the
following pattern: 22.5 percent of the boys and 22.7
percent of the girls in the control group felt that persons
infected with HIV are isolated in special restricted-
access institutions. The correct response (“not isolated,
but give a signed statement concerning criminal liability
for spreading AIDS”) was given by boys more frequently
than girls (58.3 percent as opposed to 37.3 percent; p <
0.01), while girls correspondingly answered “don’t
know” more often (40.0 percent as opposed to 23.7
percent; p < 0.001). The opinion held by 7.4 percent of
the boys and 2.2 percent of the girls was that in addition
to isolating infected individuals or requiring them to sign
the statement, the diagnosis is communicated to the
work place and the home.

In the group in which the survey was conducted after the
lecture, the number of correct responses increased by
more than 1.5 times among boys and by almost 2.5 times
among girls. The number of boys feeling that individuals
infected with HIV are isolated in special restricted-
access institutions decreased by more than four times,
while the number of girls decreased by more than 32
times. A decrease in the number of respondents adhering
to the opinion that the diagnosis is communicated to the
infected individual’s place of work and place of resi-
dence also decreased. The number of “don’t know”
responses decreased by almost four times among boys,
and by almost five times among girls. Thus information
on measures implemented in our country in relation to
persons infected with HIV has been insufficient; aware-
ness increased dramatically in response to the lecture.
Presence of wrong responses even after the lecture is
apparently explained by reports of the mass media
concerning individual cases of discrimination against
persons infected by HIV, and of violations of the secrecy
of diagnosis by medical workers in the USSR.

Our laboratory often receives letters written by persons
opposed to keeping the diagnosis of patients infected
with HIV secret, and insisting that persons infected with
AIDS be strictly isolated by creating special restricted-
access institutions such as hospitals for lepers. The
answers to the following questions of the survey provide
an impression of how juveniles relate to this problem.

In response to question 5, “Do you feel that an AIDS
diagnosis should be kept secret from others?”, approxi-
mately half of the respondents of the control group (50.9
percent of the boys and 49.9 percent of the girls)
answered in the affirmative, and 47.2 and 47.8 percent

CENTRAL EURASIA 39

felt that the diagnosis should not be kept secret (the
responses were accompanied by comments: “Let
everyone know,” “Let them repent”). No sex differences
were discovered in the responses.

A significant divergence of opinions from the control
group was discovered in the group that attended the
lecture. In it, there were almost 1.5 times more boys
(72.7 percent) and twice more girls (89 percent) who felt
that a diagnosis should be kept secret. The number of
boys adhering to the opposite opinion decreased by
twice, and the number of girls decreased by five times
(22.1 and 9.6 percent). Of interest is the fact that while
the opinions of the boys and girls in the control group
coincided, in the main group there were twice more boys
than girls who opposed secrecy of HIV diagnosis.

The responses to question 6, “Do you feel that AIDS
patients should be isolated in special restricted-access
institutions?”, showed that most of the respondents in
the control group (63.2 percent of the boys and 60.5
percent of the girls) felt that isolation was necessary.
Certain irresponsible reports by the mass media obvi-
ously had a partial influence on such an opinion. This
conclusion follows from the comments of the respon-
dents: “It’s now being suggested that AIDS may be
transmitted even by kissing and by mosquito bites. And
until it is proven otherwise, I feel that AIDS patients
should be isolated,” “Anything can happen. What if
other transmission pathways are suddenly found?” Only
around a third of the respondents (32.5 and 34.7 percent)
adhered to the opinion that these patients should not be
isolated. A “don’t know” response was offered by 4.3
percent of the boys and 4.8 percent of the girls. One
person commented “I can’t answer positively yes or no.
I don’t agree that sick people in the risk groups, drug
addicts, prostitutes and homosexuals (just these alone)
should be ‘free,’ because we can’t be certain that they will
stop their activities.” As we can see, the sex difference in
the responses is insignificant.

But the difference in opinions between the groups is
large. In the main group the number of boys insisting
that HIV-infected persons be isolated decreased by more
than twice (35.1 percent), while the number of girls
decreased by almost five times (14.9 percent). Corre-
spondingly more of the respondents of the main group
feel that patients infected with HIV should not be
isolated (61.0 percent of the boys and 79.8 percent of the
girls). Thus as a result of the lecture the opinion of the
respondents changed significantly, with the lecture influ-
encing the opinion of the girls to a greater degree.

Cases of discrimination against persons infected with
HIV and AIDS patients are being noted throughout the
world, and the USSR is no exception. This is why we are
interested in the attitude of the respondents toward
persons infected with HIV (question 7). In the control
group 49.0 percent of the boys and 56.6 percent of the
girls relate to them compassionately, while 20.9 and 16.7
percent are indifferent. A significant fraction of the
surveyed individuals described their attitude as negative



IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Dr. Kalumba said Government would in the long run
encourage private practice in the dental sector.

He urged companies to include dental care in their
employees package.

ZIMBABWE

Condoms Use Rises 20 Percent in Manicaland

92WE0269A Harare THE HERALD in English
6 Dec 91 p3

[Text] The Zimbabwe National Family Planning
Council [ZNFPC] distributed more than a million con-
doms throughout Manicaland in nine months.

With the AIDS scourge, ZNFPC officials said the use of
condoms was becoming popular with this year’s figures
being almost a 20 percent increase over the same period
last year.

The figure could have been higher had it not been for a
temporary shortage of condoms in June lat year, said the
officials.

In an interview yesterday, the ZNFPC Manicaland Pro-
vincial Nursing Officer, Sister Emilia Makoni, said:
“During the period from January to September this year,
we had more than 10,500 new cases at our various clinics
throughout the province.

“This shows that more and more people are now aware
of the existence of family planning facilities.”

Manicaland, Masvingo AIDS Statistics
92WE0269B Harare THE HERALD in English
6 Dec 91 p3

[Text] A recent AIDS survey conducted in Rusape on
patients at the General Hospital showed that, of the 300
mothers whose blood samples were taken, 31 percent
were HIV positive, the Manicaland Provincial Medical
Director, Dr. Tendai Chimbadzwa, has said.

Speaking after he addressed a gathering at Meikles Park
in Mutare to mark the National AIDS Day last Friday,
Dr. Chimbadzwa said this was an alarming figure as it
may lead to the belief that many pregnant mothers could
be HIV positive throughout the province.

Of the 208 outpatients tested at the hospital, said Dr.
Chimbadzwa, 28 percent were HIV positive. Thirty-nine
percent of in-patients also tested positive.

“If we look at the fact that 31 percent of the pregnant
mothers tested positive, these figures become a major
concern to us. In most cases, the antenatal mothers are
usually women in the 20 to 29-year-age groups and this
figure is shocking. We are in for tough times, he added.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 9

Dr. Chimbadzwa said the survey had prompted his
office to carry out more surveys at all the province’s
major hospitals to determine the proportion of the AIDS
epidemic.

On sexually transmitted diseases, Dr. Chimbadzwa said
the number of affected people reporting to hospitals had
increased. Last year alone, 130,000 cases of STD
patients out of the 963,000 recorded countrywide were
from Manicaland. In 1987, 670,000 cases were reported
countrywide and of these 52,000 were from the province.

Meanwhile, Masvingo province has this year recorded
2,800 new cases of people with the HIV virus, which
causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome and by
September, had 500 confirmed new AIDS cases with 200
more expected by year-end.

The Masvingo Provincial Medical Officer of Health, Dr.
Robert Moy, said yesterday that 75 percent of people
tested were HIV positive. Tests were done on people
suspected of being HIV infected.

Dr. Moy said 15 percent of the 500 reported full-blown
AIDS cases were children under the age of five years. He
said those adults affected were mainly between the 20
and 40-year-age groups.

Dr. Moy, however, could not give figures of those who
had died of the disease this year but said among children,
AIDS was the third major killer in Masvingo province
after pneumonia and malnutrition.

He said Masvingo town as the most affected while
Mupandawana growth point in Gutu District, Nyika in
Bikita and Zaka Jerera in Zaka had also recorded higher
cases of AIDS.

Thirty-Three AIDS-Related Deaths in
Mashonaland

92WE0269C Harare THE HERALD in English
12 Dec 91 p 4

[Text] Thirty-three people have died of AIDS related
diseases in Mashonaland Central province since January
this year while 236 others were infected with the disease
during the same period.

The Mashonaland Central provincial medical director,
Dr. Richard Munochiweyi, revealed in a recent inter-
view that 53 percent of those infected were in the 20-39
year age group while about 17 percent were children
under one year.

Dr. Munochiweyi said that most of the infected children
contracted the disease from their mothers either during
birth or pregnancy.

The doctor urged all sections of the community to
change their moral and sexual behavior to fight the
scourge.



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Security Officials on Entry

LD270213392 Moscow TASS International Service
in Russian 1220 GMT 27 Feb 92

[Article by ITAR-TASS correspondent Leonid Timo-
feyev] [Text] Moscow, 27 Feb (TASS)—Entry to Russia
is banned for 5,378 people who are on the so-called
“monitoring lists” [kontrolnyye spiski]. This was
announced by Igor Zinchenko, representative of the
counterintelligence service of the Russian Federation
Security Ministry, at a news conference here today.
According to him, the lists include data on terrorists,
extremists, individuals suspected of espionage activity,
drug dealers, and AIDS-virus infected people. Igor
Zinchenko stressed that those who had earlier been
banned from entering the country for ideological consid-
erations have been excluded from the monitoring lists of
late

AIDS Cases Dropping

LD0603081292 Moscow TASS International Service
in Russian 0645 GMT 6 Mar 92

[Article by ITAR-TASS correspondent Lyubov
Dunayev}

[Text] Moscow, 6 Mar (ITAR-TASS)—At present a
declining trend in the number of new cases of AIDS is
being observed. The new cases have dropped from 312 in
1989 to 108 in 1991. This has been achieved due to the

CENTRAL EURASIA 51

drastic decrease in infecting hospital patients with the
virus, thanks to a more stringent anti-epidemic regime,
said Dr. Vadim Pokrovskiy, head of the laboratory for
epidemiology and preventive AIDS treatment at the
Central Institute of Epidemiology.

A system for investigating AIDS is being perfected, he
told an ITAR-TASS correspondent in an interview
today. Blood donors, pregnant women, citizens
returning from abroad, and foreigners coming to Russia
for a lengthy period are subject to testing. In Russia
alone the number investigated over the last few years was
more than 5 million and throughout the former Union
42 million. Of these, 104 cases of AIDS were exposed.

According to Pokrovskiy, the investigation of foreigners
has also improved: In five years 600 foreign citizens
infected with AIDS have been exposed. However, busi-
nessmen coming from abroad and foreign tourists are
still not being monitored, the scientist noted.

The program to combat AIDS that is currently being set
up will allow the system of examining the population to
be perfected and the monitoring of the dynamics of the
illness to be improved. As a result, it will allow the
necessary sanitary and preventive treatment measures to
be efficiently taken, Pokrovskiy stressed. The functions
of the all-Union center to combat AIDS will be borne by
the Russian epidemiological center that is being estab-
lished.



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Government Approach on AIDS Cases Reviewed

92WE0241A Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA MORNING
POST in English 21 Nov 91 p 23

[Article by John Kohut}

[Text] Their families know it. So do their village leaders,
and perhaps some of their neighbors. But the Chinese
diagnosed as having caught the AIDS virus are not aware
of their infection—or at least are not supposed to know.

“We tell his family, his wife, but of course not the person
with the AIDS virus, because he would be afraid, and
people would look down on him,” said Yang Wenqiao,
head of the public health bureau in Ruili County, where
about 60 percent of China’s AIDS cases have been
found.

Of the 518 AIDS cases China has reported so far, 322 of
them are here. Virtually all of the Ruili AIDS cases were
caused by use of dirty needles to inject heroin, and 95
percent of them involve national minorities.

The reporting of large numbers of Chinese AIDS cases
early last year was a dramatic admission for China’s
Government, and has, to some extent, changed percep-
tions of the disease.

Instead of seeing AIDS simply as a foreigners’ disease,
China’s National AIDS Committee, at least, now recog-
nizes that even Chinese who have had no direct contact
with foreigners are also vulnerable, according to Dr. Bill
Kean, the World Health Organization’s chief represen-
tative in Beijing.

“The success story is that they take it on at the national
level in a surprisingly frank way,” said Dr. Kean, whose
organization has advised the Chinese on carrying out
blood tests. WHO also recently committed itself to
contributing US$8 million (about HK$62 million) to an
AIDS clinical management research programme over
approximately three or four years, though so far it has
raised only US$1 million for 1991.

The Chinese Government’s attitude compares well with
that of Thailand’s authorities, who throughout the 80s
insisted their country had only a limited number of
AIDS cases, and failed to control the spread of the HIV
virus, only to face a crisis today, Dr. Kean said.

However, China now faces a clinical problem—how to
take care of those who test HIV-positive.

According to Dr. Kean, “the big problem will come when

HIV-positive cases start to develop AIDS.” That will not

only be very costly, but also require special training of
loctors.

The policy of keeping the HIV-positive diagnosis secret
from infected persons is not unusual in China. Victims
of cancer are not told of their disease either, though their
families are.

CHINA ul

According to Mr. Yang, most of the AIDS virus carriers
in Ruili are still healthy and continue to work, Health
officials tell them only that they have an infection, and
advise them to contact a doctor immediately upon
feeling any discomfort or becoming ill.

When doctors visit AIDS virus carriers, they avoid using
gloves or masks so as not to draw attention to the nature
of the infection, but the extra care these patient get-—
including gifts of candy and milk—are often a tip-off to
neighbors as well as the patient himself, Mr. Yang said.

Ruili has so far reported only two full-blown AIDS cases.
Both were men who died last month.

One died within days of coming to a doctor with symp-
toms of full-blown AIDS, including diarrhea, fever,
spitting blood and mouth inflammation.

The other was diagnosed as having AIDS in October
1990. He was 27 at the time of death, single, and had
used heroin for eight years.

“Doctors went to his home two or three times a month,”
Mr. Yang said. “His mother took care of him. Whatever
disease he had, she said he was still her son. She didn’t
care about him getting AIDS.”

However, the picture of compassionate care Mr. Yang
painted does not square with reports from other sources.

For example, three years ago one peasant who tested
HIV positive was ostracized and his family had him
sleeping in the field, until health authorities intervened
and managed to get him back into his house, Dr. Kean
said.

“There are stories of people being discriminated against
because they are HIV-positive,” Dr. Kean said. “In other
cases, there is good counselling.”

A more horrifying instance of prejudice and ignorance
occurred last year, when China’s Government
announced the first two deaths of mainland Chinese
males from AIDS.

One of the two men, a doctor who lived in Beijing after
returning from a long stay in Europe, was entirely
isolated after being put in hospital with AIDS.

“He was put in a separate ward, his family could not
bring him anything, even a television set for fear the
contact would cause the spread of the disease,” one of
the man’s friends said.

“There was an appalling ignorance and lack of compas-
sion on the part of the Chinese hospital which should
have taken care of him.”

Dr. Kean believes that some HIV-positive cases are
probably in the early stages of AIDS, but are not being
looked at carefully.



SIPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992 2 AIDS

Sharp Increase in HIV/AIDS Cases [Kate Burling; Windhoek THE NAMIBIAN, 14 Jan 92]
Health Minister Discusses AIDS Statistics (Johannesburg SAPA, 25 Feb 92] ....

NIGERIA

Minister Gives Figures on AIDS
[Onajomo Orere, Ben Ukwuoma, et al.; Lagos THE GUARDIAN, 21 Dec 91] .....

SEYCHELLES

Twenty-Two Tested HIV Positive; No AIDS Cases
[Victoria SEYCHELLES NATION, 29 Nov 91] ..

SOUTH AFRICA

Health Minister Notes Numbers Testing HIV Positive (Johannesburg SAPA, 12 Feb 92]
Cape Town AIDS Cases ‘Doubles’ in Year [Johannesburg SAPA, 2 Mar 92) .....

SWAZILAND
Director says AIDS Cases Overwhelmning Health Services

[Mbabane Swazi Television, 4 Feb 92] ..... 7
TANZANIA
Health Minister Reports Increase in AIDS
[Dar es Salaam Radio Tanzania External Service, 3 Feb 92] 8

ZAMBIA

AIDS Illnesses Occupy 30 Percent of Beds {Lusaka SUNDAY TIMES OF ZAMBIA, 1 Dec 91] .... 8
Health Minister on Hospitals’ Admission of AIDS Patients

[Lusaka TIMES OF ZAMBIA, 13 Feb 92] 8
ZIMBABWE
Condoms Use Rises 20 Percent in Manicaland /Harare THE HERALD, 6 Dec 91] 9

Manicaland, Masvingo AIDS Statistics /Harare THE HERALD, 6 Dec 91] .....
Thirty-Three AIDS-Related Deaths in Mashonaland /Harare THE HERALD, 12 Dec 91] ..
Catholic Priest Discusses Spread of AIDS in Rushinga (Johannesburg SAPA, 28 Jan 92]
AIDS Figures Up 76 Percent for 1991 (Johannesburg SAPA, 31 Jan 92] ...
Number of Children Orphaned by AIDS Increasing Johannesburg SAPA, 1.
Official Estimates on AIDS; Number of Orphans To Increase

[Johannesburg SABC TV 1 Network, 6 Mar 92]

CHINA

Government Approach on AIDS Cases Reviewed

[John Kohut; Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 21 Nov 91]
Four AIDS Carriers in Shanghai

[Daniel Kwan; Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 3 Dec 91] ..
Guangdong Officials Concerned at AIDS Threat {Hong Kong AFP, 24 Jan 92]

EAST ASIA
HONG KONG
Two More HIV Virus Carriers Identified
[Rita Lun; Hong Kong THE HONGKONG STANDARD, 27 Nov 91] ..

Territory Involved in Smuggling Banned AIDS Drug to U.S.
[Martin Freeman; Hong Kong THE SUNDAY STANDARD, 19 Jan 92] ....



32 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

morbid possibility acknowledged by experts engaged in
fighting the menace in this beleaguered North-Eastern
tate.

Sweeping across the hills and valley of Manipur, is the
scourge of drug addiction and HIV, which since detec-
tion in the early 80’s has spread like wild-fire to threaten
every citizen in all social and economic strata. The latest
official figure of around 1,400 HIV positive cases in this
State with a population of about 19 lakh is just the
prelude to a killer disease on the prowl.

The official figure assumes an alarming percentage,
when calculated with the number of samples tested,
which is just about 7,000. In fact, the unofficial figure is
an unbelievable 14,000 plus HIV positive cases so far.
And making the region fertile for the virus to spawn and
spread, is the high concentration of drug addicts. A
conservative estimate puts the figure of drug abusers at
over 30,000.

So far, only three AIDS deaths have been officially
recorded, but given the incubation period of the HIV,
about 10 years (the time taken for the HIV positive cases
to develop AIDS), the inadequate medical facilities, and
lack of awareness amongst the people, the entire popu-
lation could be wiped out in 10 or 15 years time, unless
preventive measures are taken up at a war-footing; Now!

Already, the doubling rate of HIV positive cases in the
state, is the highest in the world. While the national ratio
of HIV positive cases is seven per thousand population,
in this small backward State, it is as high as 167 per
thousand.

Sharing this alarming reality, Jiban Kumar Leishram,
organiser, Service and Education for Welfare Action
(SEWA)—a voluntary organisation engaged in tackling
the problem of drug addiction and AIDS in Manipur for
over a decade—wamned, “it’s got to be contained now or
never.”

While highlighting the urgent need to draw the attention
of everyone to this menace, Mr. Leishram cautioned,
that the revelation should not activate a panic reaction,
but “actuate a concerted fight by the public and the
government.”

The fight is going to be a long-drawn formidable one.
The unchecked inflow of drugs through the 352 Kms
long common border with Myanmar, the unabatted
insurgency, the increasing number of frustrated unem-
ployed youths, the Western influence and a deplorable
economy of the State, are some of the factors that have
prepared the ground for the infection.

And hastening the spread of the infection, is the hordes
of intravenous drug addicts who continue to share con-
taminated needles. It has been ascertained that the major
mode of transmission of HIV is through the intravenous
drug use, in the State.

Whether the infection came via Bombay, Calcutta or
other cities, or crossed over from Myanmar is not

IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

confirmed. What is known is that 94 percent of the total
HIV positive cases are from among blood donors and
intravenous drug users, and the maximum number of
cases are among the age group of 13 to 30 years.

Mr. Leishram also revealed that majority of the male
drug addicts belong to affluent families, while the
women addicts are destitutes, widows and those without
a means of livelihood. These exploited women mostly
are tribals, who start off as courier in drug trafficking and
later take to drugs.

According to Mr. Leishram, no single factor can be
tackled in isolation in the present situation. A multi-
pronged action is needed with emphasis in curbing the
inflow of drugs and containing the spread of HIV
through mass awareness programme.

In curbing the inflow of drugs, the government has failed
miserably, Mr. Leishram laments. “There are enough
provisions in the law to take up deterrent steps against
drug traffickers, but while the petty pushers often are
hauled up, the kingpins are still at large.”

“If I can tell you the drug outlets in Imphal which till
today are doing business, do you think the law enforcing
agencies are unaware of their existence,” Mr. Leishram’s
question emphasised the laxity of the police and the
Government.

Today, the State has one surveillance centre for HIV
screening (for the Western Blot confirmation, samples
are being sent to the National Institute of Cholera and
Enteric Disease, Calcutta). The Manipur Voluntary
Health Association with financial support from the Ford
Foundation, various non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) like SEWA, New Life, Awakening Home... are
working in coordination with the State Government and
the Central Welfare Ministry, to contain the crisis.

The efforts are still inadequate, “not only is there paucity
of fund, there is an urgent need to identify specific
groups and areas, encourage more HGOs participation
and formation of a high level committee comprising
health authorities and law enforcing agencies, to plan
and coordinate efforts to curb drug trafficking and HIV
infection,” Mr. Leishram said.

Elaborating on the proposal, Mr. Leishram mentioned,
for instance, the new target area SEWA has identified.
“Knowing the background of the women drug addicts,
the effort to counsel them on the danger of HIV, will not
be effective, till an alternative source of income is
provided. An integrated rehabilitation project is the
answer.”

Narrating the incident of a 25-year-old youth who frac-
tured his leg in an accident and subsequently found HIV
positive, and is still languishing with doctors refusing to
attend to his injury, Mr. Leishram stated that, “not only
the general public, but doctors and para-medical staffs
should be reached out to, in the AIDS awareness cam-
paign.”


20 EAST ASIA

will be increased to 100. During this phase, the results
will be studied in great depth to determine what dosages
should be given, how far apart the injections should be
given, and how much immunity the vaccine affords.
Only then will we advance to phase 3. During that phase,
we will use approximately 1,000 volunteers to measure
the long-term results.

“The tests will be conducted very carefully. You can’t
treat human subjects carelessly. We have a Human
Research Committee to monitor things. If the data
collected during the first two phases do not indicate that
this is safe, the tests will be stopped. Thus, there
shouldn’t be any problems,” said Dr. Thira.

“Those who are tested must volunteer to do this. They
must not be forced. They must sign a waiver stating that
they agree to accept the risk. They will be given guidance
and provided with explanations by doctors,” said Dr.
Nat. “The groups that we are concerned about are
soldiers and prisoners. These are people who have little
opportunity in society. We must take steps to ensure that
they are not coerced into ’volunteering for this.“

The director-general of the Department of Communi-
cable Disease Control said that researchers must inform
people concerning what steps will be taken to help them
if they experience side effects or negative results. They
must be told how safe this is and what steps will be taken
to protect them.

Those who will be tested with the first type of vaccine
include people in at-risk groups such as prostitutes, male
tourists, homosexuals, intravenous drug users, and those
who come in close contact with AIDS patients. People
who already have AIDS will be given the second type of
vaccine. The third type of vaccine will be given to
pregnant women who have AIDS.

“The rumors that we will test the vaccine on hill
tribesmen are not true. The sample group must be
representative of all the people who live in various
AIDS-infected areas. Thus, the vaccine can’t be tested
just among hill tribesmen,” said Dr. Thira.

Even though the medical benefits are clear, Dr. Nat said
that we must be careful about and study the social and
ethical effects stemming from such tests and take steps to
prevent harmful effects.

“The first thing is how others will view those who are
participating in this study. If their colleagues at work
know that they are taking the vaccine and have to have
blood tests every day, will they tend to avoid them?
Thus, we have to consider what steps we can take to
conceal the identity of those who are participating in this
study.

“Besides this, there are the views of those who are
participating in the study. If they think that the vaccine
is effective, they may lose their fear of contracting AIDS
and engage in improper sexual activities. They may not

SPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

take precautions when engaging in sexual activities. That
could increase their risk of contracting AIDS.”

Also, some test subjects will be given placebos in order to
be certain about the test results. The subjects will not
know whether they are being given the vaccine or a
placebo. If a person who is given a placebo thinks that he
has been given the vaccine and is not careful when
engaging in sexual activities, thinking that the vaccine
will protect him, that will not be fair to that person.

“Something else that is important is that the test subjects
and the doctors involved in the test must be protected in
accordance with the law. Because if the results are
negative, even if the subjects sign a waiver, the doctors
may still be liable,” said the rector of Mahidol Univer-
sity.

In determining which countries to select to participate in
this study, the World Health Organization will look at
epidemiology accuracy, examinations for and the spread
of the disease, the security situation in the country,
whether the country is interested in this and realizes the
importance of AIDS, the expertise of researchers, and
the behavior of the people in the country.

“The World Health Organization will hold another
meeting on this on 1-2 November. This matter must be
considered very carefully, because this is the first time
that an AIDS vaccine will be tested. But this is also an
urgent matter, because this problem can’t wait,” said Dr.
Nat to SAPDA WICHAN.

But all that Thais can do is wait and see.

Project Official Discusses AIDS Awareness

92WE0183B Bangkok SIAM RAT SAPDA WICHAN
in Thai 15-21 Dec 91 pp 22, 23

{Excerpts] The latest act by Dr. Wirasit Sitthitrai that has
created a quite a stir is his statement that about 550,000
Thais engage in pre-and extra-marital sex each day. As
for where he got this figure, let’s first get to know him
better.

Besides being the deputy director of the AIDS program
for social affairs of the Thai Red Cross, Dr. Wirasit is an
instructor with the Institute of Population Studies, Chu-
lalongkorn University. He received his Ph.D. in political
science and anthropology. He has also taken courses
concerning agriculture, irrigation, population studies,
and even computer research. After becoming an
instructor at Chulalongkorn University, he had a chance
to participate in the work of Phisan Munlasatsathon
during the period that Phisan served as the undersecre-
tary of interior. During that period, he participated in
activities with the Office of the Prime Minister aimed at
developing small water sites. As a result, he learned how
to coordinate things with other units at the national
level. Now that he is involved in. AIDS projects, he is
putting his experience in coordinating things to good use
in carrying on AIDS work. [passage omitted]


Epidemiology
AIDS

JPRS-TEP-92-005 CONTENTS II March 1992

[This EPIDEMIOLOGY report contains only material on AIDS. Other epidemiology topics are covered in a later
issue.]

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

WHO: Over One Million New AIDS Carriers in Past 8 Months {Paris AFP, 12 Feb 92]
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

BOTSWANA

Kweneng District AIDS Statistics Given
[Marshall Tladi; Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS, 5 Dec 91]
Total HIV Virus Infected Now 250 [Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY

COMOROS
Eight HIV Cases Identified at Moroni Lab (Moroni AL-WATWAN, 1 Nov 91] ....
GHANA

Hospitals Equipped To Test Blood for AIDS

[Rosemary Ardayfio; Accra PEOPLE’S DAILY GRAPHIC, 18 Nov 91]
Hospitals To Have HIV Detection Equipment

[Dwamena Bekoe; Accra PEOPLE’S DAILY GRAPHIC, 3 Dec 91] ....
Upper East To Step Up AIDS Counselling

[Abdul Aziz; Accra PEOPLE’S DAILY GRAPHIC, 28 Dec 92] .....
AIDS Increase in Ashanti Region

[Nehemia Owusu Achiaw; Accra PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC, 9 Jan 92] ....

IVORY COAST

Seminar Discusses AIDS Research Priorities
[Lebry Leon Francis; Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN, 1 Dec 92) ....

KENYA

ne

wi iw wn

Institute on Effectiveness of Kemron in AIDS Treatment [Nairobi KTN Television, 6 Feb 92] .... 4
LIBERIA

AIDS, STD Control Program Under Way {Monrovia THE INQUIRER, 17 Dec 91]
Partial Statistics Show 12 AIDS Cases [Monrovia THE SCORPION, 13 Jan 92]

MOZAMBIQUE
Pemba Reports 5 AIDS Cases by Aug 91 [Maputo Radio Mozambique Network, 10 Feb 92] ..
Maputo City Worst Hit by AIDS Virus {Maputo Radio Mozambique Network, 15 Feb 92]
Nearly 100,000 AIDS Cases Projected by 1995
[Maputo Radio Mozambique Network, 9 Mar 92]
NAMIBIA

Editorial Disputes CCN Director on Condoms [Windhoek THE NAMIBIAN, 6 Dec 91] ....



44 CENTRAL EURASIA

Interview With AIDS Patients

92WE0141A Moscow ARGUMENTY I FAKT. Y
in Russian No 45, Nov 91 p 4

{Interview with AIDS patients Sergey and Aleksandr by
O. Izvekovoy and V. Romanenko: “I Live One Day at a
Time”.]

[Excerpts] According to specialists, there will be 1.5
million AIDS patients in the country by the year 2000.

Much has already been written about AIDS. However,
the patients themselves are unwilling to talk about them-
selves. This is primarily becausé society views them in a

_ Very negative manner. Many still think that only prosti-
tutes, drug addicts, and homosexuals get AIDS. But as
the statistics show, no one is immune. Currently in the
country there are 669 people infected with the AIDS
virus, including 292 children, 257 of which were infected
with AIDS in hospitals. Each year the number of AIDS
patients rises.

Our correspondents O. Izvekovoy and V. Romanenko
were able to talk with Sergey (33 years) and Aleksandr
(22 years). One has had the disease for 3 years, the other
for 6 months.

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: What did you know about
AIDS before you found out that you had the disease?

Sergey: I had heard and read that it was incurable. I tried
to avoid contact with those I did not know and for-
eigners.

Aleksandr: I was also afraid of AIDS. It is true that I was
not as afraid of the disease itself—a disease is a disease,
if you have it, you can’t avoid it—as I was of the
loneliness. After all, the opinion still prevails that AIDS
can be transmitted by shaking hands, or even from a
glance. When my friends found out about me, some
turned away, some did not believe, and some began to
chatter about everything.

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: What has now changed in
your life?

Sergey: When they found out that I had AIDS, they
immediately informed the health department, which
informed my work place and residence complex. I was
fired, and I was afraid to return home, since people had
threatened to kill me. I had just gotten another job, and
the news reached there. Tongues are long. I had to leave.

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: How do you get by?

Sergey: I give blood (for research, not transfusions.
Editor). We get paid only 120 rubles for 400 g, but
anyway... Sometimes I give interviews. I live on this
money.

Aleksandr: There is also the AIDS Control Association.
They can give financial support once every six months.
But you need to tell them who you are, when you were

SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

infected, that you have nothing to live on, etc. I person-
ally have never filled out this application and will not. It
is degrading. You have to show yourself off. They would
give us work within our power. It would be not only
financial support, but also spiritual. [Passage omitted]

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: What are your relationships
with physicians? Do you believe them?

Aleksandr: It seems to me that most of them look at us as
if we were living corpses. Hence our relationship.

Sergey: After all, most of them will not treat us. They
come, they look, they leave. There are very few good
physicians who, although they cannot help us, can give
us hope. [Passage omitted]

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: What if you suddenly found
out that your diagnosis was a mistake?

Aleksandr: There have already been such cases, when a
more accurate test did not detect the virus. Of course, it
is something to see, tears and crying, as if a person was
born again. We have seen it and were happy for him. Of
course, it is a lesson that will last a lifetime. [Passage
omitted]

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: Do you think we are con-
ducting the AIDS prevention campaign correctly?

Aleksandr: In my opinion, things are not being done
correctly. You can scare anybody, but here everybody is
afraid. First of all, we need to explain it. If most sexual
contacts occur in pairs, what fear...

Sergey: At first even the medical staff was afraid of us.
They wore masks and gloves... Now they are used to us
and will even share a glass with us. The first patients
were kept in cubicles... As for myself, when I came here
for the first time, I thought there would be police and
prison cells, But we are free, we can go to the movies or
the store. [Passage omitted]

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: Are you interested in politics?
What do you think about the political activists?

Sergey: We were very afraid when the coup began. When
they proclaimed they would control sex, we feared that
with this in mind they would come for us and shoot us in
any case... After all, there is a list of AIDS patients at the
Ministry of Health. [Passage omitted)

ARGUMENTY I FAKTY: Many of our healers have
announced that they are ready to cure AIDS. Have any
of them come to you?

Sergey:[Sergey] No one has been here except V. Sarchuk.
But he did not have any results.

Aleksandr: Why should they come here? They sit ‘at
home and deceive hundreds of people and get thousands
for it, and we can’t pay them.


28 LATIN AMERICA

itself over the killer disease which has already claimed
the lives of more than 150 people in this tiny British
colony.

“T consider this to be the most serious crisis Bermuda has
ever faced—and we’d better be ready for it,” said Soares.

According to figures issued earlier this year by the World
Health Organisation (WHO), Bermuda has the second-
highest rate of AIDS infection in the world in terms of
population size. Bermuda has a per capita rate of 57.9
per 100,000. WHO listed the Bahamas as having the
world’s highest rate—66.1 per 100,000.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Health Officer Reports on HIV Positive Cases

FL1402184792 Santo Domingo Radio-Television
Dominicana Radio Network in Spanish 1600 GMT
14 Feb 92

[Text] Dr. Maritza Arbaje, director of epidemiology at
the Dominican Social Security Institute, IDSS, affirmed
today that the Dominican Republic has between 20,000
and 40,000 HIV seropositive cases. HIV is the retrovirus
that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome,
AIDS.

IJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

She explained that a great number of the people infected,
if not all, do not show symptoms but can pass the disease
to other individuals. She added that in Latin America,
the Dominican Republic ranks fourth in the number of
AIDS cases, but did not specify the number of cases.
However, on 7 January, the World Health Organization,
WHO, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, said that
the Dominican Republic ranks fourth in Latin America
with 1,535 AIDS cases. The report places Brazil in first
place with 21,023 cases, followed by Mexico with 8,720
cases, and Haiti with 3,086 cases. The other two coun-
tries in the Americas with the most AIDS cases are the
United States, in first place in the world with 202,843
cases; and Canada with 9,460 cases, which places this
country in third place following Brazil.

By continents, the Americas are the most affected with
252,977 cases; followed by Africa with 129,066 cases;
Europe with 60,125 cases; Oceania with 3,189 cases; and
Asia with 1,254 cases reported to the WHO.

Dr. Arbaje said that in the Dominican Republic there are
individuals who have been HIV seropositive for up to 10
years, without developing AIDS symptoms. She added,
that the combination of drug addiction and sex fosters
the fatal transmission of the HIV virus. Therefore, the
timely education of our youth is one way of controlling
the spread of the virus.



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Assessment of the Attitude of Juveniles Toward
the AIDS Problem

92WE0102A Moscow SOVETSKOYE
ZDRAVOOKHRANENIYE in Russian No 1, Jun 91
pp 45-50

[Article by V. V. Pokrovskiy and G. I. Mozharova,
Central Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology,
USSR Ministry of Health]

UDC 616.98:578.826.8]-053.67-036.2-07

[Text] According to reports from the Fourth Interna-
tional AIDS Congress in Stockholm ?, the number of
juveniles infected with human immune-deficiency virus
(HIV) is growing slowly but steadily throughout the
entire world. The spread of HIV infection is generating
complex problems associated with social discrimination
against the victims of this disease. The society’s discrim-
inatory attitude may make people afraid of being exam-
ined for AIDS and of seeking medical care at the
suspicion of AIDS, and it may cause infected persons to
refuse to communicate information about their sexual
contacts in the event of an epidemiological investigation;
such an attitude may also cause these people to become
hardened, and to want to deliberately infect healthy
individuals—that is, it may intensify the fear of AIDS.

The purpose of our research was to clarify the attitude of
juveniles 14- 18 years old toward HIV patients and their
opinion of measures being implemented in the USSR in
relation to AIDS patients and virus carriers, and to

CENTRAL EURASIA

37

assess the influence of AIDS prevention lectures on
formation of opinions in regard to these matters.

The research was conducted by means of a single anon-
ymous questionnaire survey in February-April 1989.
The work was carried out simultaneously with an inves-
tigation of the degree to which young people are
informed about AIDS, using the same groups of respon-
dents ', The questionnaire consisted of seven multiple-
choice questions. The respondents had to select from a
list of responses that were correct in their opinion, and to
indicate their age and sex on the questionnaire sheet.
Two groups of students from 14 to 18 years old were
created by random sampling (secondary school students
and students of Moscow’s medical and vocational-
technical schools). No special public health education
regarding AIDS prevention was provided to any of these
groups prior to the study. The questionnaire was filled
out by the main group after a lecture on AIDS preven-
tion. Such a lecture was not given to the control group
prior to filling out the questionnaire. The background
awareness of young people 14-18 years old was deduced
from the responses of the control group. The effective-
ness of the lectures was evaluated by comparing the
answers of both groups of respondents. Seven hundred
fifty questionnaires were analyzed, to include 359 from
the main group (77 boys and 282 girls) and 391 from the
control group (163 boys and 228 girls). Statistical treat-
ment of the questionnaire results was based on the
method of comparing two sampling fractions of the
response variants (percent) with an alternative distribu-
tion.

The questionnaire survey results are presented in the
table.

Comparative Analysis of the Responses of Boys and Girls in the Control and Experimental Groups
(Percent “Positive” Responses)

Questions and Response Variants ‘Control Group Experimental Group
Boys Girls Boys Girls
Total respondents (persons) 163 228 77 282
1. Your attitude toward people changing sex partners
frequently:
censuring 23.0 61.8 45.5 62.8
uncertain 49.1 36.8 48.0 36.4
Positive 13 0.0 6.5 0.4
no response 0.6 1.4 0.0 0.4
2. What would you do if you suspected you had AIDS?:
go to a doctor 32.5 28.9 15.6 18.8
get tested anonymously 64.4 69.3 79.2 80.5
wouldn’t seek medical care 25 0.9 3.9 0.7
no response 0.6 0.9 13 0.0
4. What is done with persons infected with AIDS in our
country?*;
isolated in special restricted-access institutions 22.5 22.7 5.2 0.7
Rot isolated, but give a signed statement 53.8 37.3 88.3 92.5
concerning criminal liability for spreading AIDS



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

BULGARIA

Drop in AIDS Statistics Reflects Lack of Medical
Testing

AU2102122792 Sofia BTA in English 0959 GMT

21 Feb 92

[Text] Sofia, February 21 (BTA)}—While the number of
HIV carriers snowballed around the world, in Bulgaria
their number declined from 1987 to 1991. This paradox
is not a “Bulgarian miracle” but reflects the shortage of
test kits, today’s “DEMOKRATSIYA °91” reports.

Of the 16 AIDS patients registered in Bulgaria, 11 are
already dead. The HIV carriers number 98, including
one child. The rest are aged between 16 and 35. The male
to female ratio in this group is 3 to 1, the daily says.

Today’s “DEMOKRATSIYA ’91” interviews Dr.
Kamen Plochev, one of the first specialists who engaged
in AIDS treatment in Bulgaria. In his view, people’s fear
of getting infected in everyday contacts is directly pro-
portional to ignorance. Dr. Plochev differentiates
between several types of reactions to the AIDS risk and
says that most people would rather know nothing and
live carefree.

Dr. Plochev says there are not enough physicians ready
to commit themselves to the treatment of AIDS.

Asked whether the AIDS patients should be isolated
from “ordinary” patients, Dr. Plochev emphasizes that
he is against the establishment of “reservations” for HIV
carriers. He believes that when the number of patients
increases, an up-to-date centre for their treatment may
have to be opened. Against the background of the acute
shortage of any medicine, he praises the outlay of
300,000 U.S. dollars from the budget for AIDS tests.
“The main thing is to reckon with patients’ rights and
with public safety,” he emphasizes.

HUNGARY

Health Cooperation Accord With Greece Signed

LD0203094792 Budapest MTV Television Network
in Hungarian 1900 GMT 28 Feb 92

[Text] Hungarian Health Minister Laszlo Surjan and
Yeoryios Sourlas, Health Minister of the Greek
Republic, signed a health cooperation plan for 1992-93.
According to the plan, the two ministries will cooperate
in the prevention of AIDS, tumors, and cardiac and
vascular diseases.

POLAND

Comprehensive Look at AIDS Issues, Carriers

92EP0167A Warsaw GAZETA WYBORCZA in Polish
2 Jan 92 pp 12-13

[Article by Beata Pawlak: “Allow Us To LiveTM]

EAST EUROPE 23

[Text] Official AIDS data from the end of November,
1991: 1,963 HIV carriers, 45 AIDS patients, and 40
deaths.

Here is a short history of AIDS in Poland. 1985: First
registered HIV carrier. 1986: First patient suffering from
AIDS. 1987: First death. September 1987: First regis-
tered Pole infected by a Pole. September 1988: First drug
user infected. We can add several pictures to these dates:
Burning straw figures thrown into the garden of the
MONAR [Young Peoples Movement To Combat Drug
Addiction] facility in Gloskow. HIV carriers walking
between rows of people shouting at them abusively in
Ryblenko. A group of HIV carriers parading through the
streets of the Old City in Warsaw with a banner reading
“Allow Us To Live.”

An uncertain voice answers the telephone: “Trust
Phone”? For three weeks now I have had swollen lymph
nodes, constant diarrhea. I am afraid that I might have
AIDS. Danuta Wiewiora, a psychologist employed by
the Plus in Solidarity on AIDS Association [Sto-
warzyszenie Plus - Solidarni wobec AIDS] receives
dozens of such phone calls. She sends most people to
general physicians. She advises some to be tested.

To Live With the Virus

Any venereal disease clinic or hospital for contagious
disease can perform the test to detect the presence of the
HIV virus. Some preserve the patients’ anonymity. The
tests are free everywhere for people in high risk groups.

The test is voluntary, but some hospitals perform it
routinely before giving any treatment but do not notify
the patients of this policy. Sometimes employers illegally
require test results from job applicants.

Everyone is shocked when the physician says: “Your test
came out positive, sir.” Danuta Wiewiora recounts:
“They come to us at the end of their endurance. They
think it’s the end, that now they have to give up their
jobs, run home and hide, waiting to die. Each one asks:
“How much longer do I have?’ I tell them I don’t know,
any more than I know how long I myself have. Then I try
to convince them that they should not think about dying
but learn how to live with AIDS instead.”

But it is far easier to live with AIDS when the neighbors,
employers, and doctors are unaware that one is a carrier.
The tales told by HIV carriers testify to the incompe-
tence of the health service and the intolerance of people
around them. The story of a man we will call Karol is an
example of how carriers are treated.

Karol comes from a small town in the southern part of
the country. He started using drugs after his divorce. One
day he felt himself becoming weaker and weaker. “At
one time I could unload a truck of cement, but now I
couldn’t move my hand.” He decided to be tested. When
he came for the results, the physician at the window
found his card and said in his direction: “You have
AIDS.”



JPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

The announcement was made jointly by Health Minister
Ralph Adam and Mrs. Medgee Pragassen, the program
manager and director general for Primary Health, during
a meeting on HIV and AIDS at the Maison du Peuple.

The “Sharing the Challenge” meeting which was
attended by about 80 participants, was part of the
Ministry of Health’s activities to commemorate World
AIDS Day 1991.

It was chaired by Minister Adam, who said that the aims
were to inform participants of the global, regional and
national situation of HIV/AIDS, the latest development
and prospects for treatment and vaccination, create a
climate of understanding and compassion for those
affected, and draw attention to the human and social
aspects of the problems of HIV infection and AIDS.

“HIV and AIDS are the concern of everyone. They are
not only the concern of the Ministry of Health, for the
disease involves all sectors of society, the family as well
as the workforce,” the Health Minister said.

But he added that despite the seriousness of HIV and
AIDS “we are not powerless”.

“Tt is the human element which counts,” he added.

“As the theme of World AIDS day says we must all share
the challenge,” he explained.

After the Minister’s speech Dr. Conrad Shamlaye
addressed the participants on the global HIV/AIDS
situation. Dr. Brewer, the WHO liaison officer and
consultant pathologist, talked about the transmission of
the disease and prospects for treatment and vaccination,
while Mrs. Pragassen gave an account of Seychelles
Medium Term Plan for the control of HIV and AIDS.

The participants who included ministers, senior govern-
ment officials, representatives of non-governmental
organizations, the business community and technical
personnel involved in the control of HIV and AIDS, had
the chance to seek further clarifications after each pre-
sentation.

Some of the participants suggested that this kind of
meeting be held in all the parishes and that the Ministry
of Health work in closer collaboration with the Church
to promote safer sex.

However, Minister Adam said that while he welcomes all
suggestions, the Ministry of Health has no alternative
but to promote safe sex through the use of condoms. He
said that his ministry will continue to support the
educators.

The Minister appealed for more funds to deal with this
problem which Dr. Shamlaye described as the major
cause of death in young adults in the late 1990s.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 7

SOUTH AFRICA

Health Minister Notes Numbers Testing HIV
Positive

MB1202151492 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1403 GMT 12 Feb 92

[Text] Parliament Feb 12 SAPA—A total of 12,198 black
South Africans has been tested HIV-positive by
November 28 last year, the minister of national health,
Dr. Rina Venter, said on Wednesday [12 February]. The
AIDS virus had also infected 1,420 whites, 336
coloureds and 65 Indians, she said in a written reply to a
question by Mr. Mike Ellis (DP [Democratic Party]
Durban North). Cases of people who were tested HIV-
positive were reported anonymously.

Cape Town AIDS Cases ‘Doubles’ in Year

MB0203182292 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1802 GMT 2 Mar 92

[Text] Cape Town Mar 2 SAPA—The number of people
tested as HIV-positive in Cape Town has almost doubled
in the past year, and deaths from AIDS have also
escalated sharply, SABC [South African Broadcasting
Corporation] radio news reports.

The city’s medical officer of health, Dr. Michael Popkiss,
told a City Council committee on Monday [2 March]
that more than 1,300 people had tested HIV-positive by
January this year. At the same time last year the figure
was 787,

In the last year the number of AIDS cases had risen from
94 to a 140, and AIDS deaths had increased from 53 to
78, said Dr. Popkiss.

SWAZILAND

Director says AIDS Cases Overwhelmning Health
Services

MB0502082892 Mbabane Swazi Television in English
1630 GMT 4 Feb 92

[Text] Dr. John Mbambo, director of health services,
officially opening an HIV-AIDS workshop at Forrester’s
Arms over the weekend noted that the number of AIDS
cases was beginning to overwhelm the country’s health
services as we entered the second decade of the AIDS
pandemic.

Dr. Mbambo then called for the strengthening of clinical
care management so that our health workers can cope
with the current situation. He said Swaziland will soon
have to follow in the footsteps of Uganda and Zambia,
which he said already handled large numbers of patients,
adding that home-based, or community-based care was
now well accepted in those countries. Dr. Mbambo also
commented that while cases of tuberculosis had been
declining in the 1970's, we were now seeing an increase



SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Anti-AIDS Education Measures Planned
92WE0140B Moscow TRUD in Russian 27 Nov 91 p 4

[Article by A. Korolev: “AIDS Prevention”. First para-
graph is TRUD introduction.]

[Text] “United against a common threat” is the motto of
the 1 December 1991 World-Wide AIDS Prevention Day.
This is what Alla Korshunova, vice president of the
Moscow Municipal Committee of the Red Cross Society
had to say in connection with this.

Korshunova: The objective of the World-Wide AIDS
Prevention Day is to open new spheres of interaction
and information and experience exchange, and reinforce
a spirit of social tolerance for the suffering people.

TRUD: How is the municipal committee preparing for
December 1?

Korshunova: We have held classes with a group of
participants from medical academy No. 2, the activists
of our movement. On December | they will visit the
Moscow Municipal Receiving and Distribution Center
for Underage Children and four schools. They will
present an important conversation of young people with
young people on the most critical problem of our cen-
tury. The activists will give their listeners free of charge
the book “AIDS Primer” (translated from the English),
part of the publication of which will be paid for by the
municipal committee. The Red Cross together with the
AIDS Prevention Association, Soviet Charity and
Health Fund, and other organizations will participate in
information-educational skits at the University of Peo-
ple’s Friendship imeni P. Lumumba and the Second
Moscow Medical Institute, and in a charitable event at
the Lenin Komsomol Theater.

TRUD: Are you planning to visit AIDS patients that are
in treatment?

Korshunova: Absolutely! The municipal committee of
the Red Cross has made presents for the children (there
are approximately 15 from different parts of the country)
and patients of Infectious Hospital No. 2 in the former
Pervomayskiy Rayon of the capital.

AIDS Patients Criticize Medical, Social
Treatment

92WE0140C Moscow TRUD in Russian 29 Nov 91 p 4

{Article by A. Nikonov: “Death Ticket: Some Brief
Interviews With Patients at the All-Union AIDS Preven-
tion Center”. First paragraph is TRUD introduction.]

[Text] They do not have skin lesions or a terrible external
appearance like lepers do. They look the same as we do.
Men and women. Different occupations and ages. With
and without glasses, with and without mustaches. From
different ends of a decaying country. They simply were not

CENTRAL EURASIA 45

lucky. In the lottery of life they drew the death ticket. Any
one of us could be in their place tomorrow. These people
have AIDS.

.At first, of course, it was shattering. “Why me?” And
then they... well I don’t know, they got used to it. They
even joke and laugh. Apparently they can’t live with the
thought all the time. They are probably forgetting them-
selves,

“No, we do not get any help from anyone, except the
physicians at the center. Not from ”Ogonek—
Anti-AIDS“, not from all these rock concerts to benefit
AIDS patients. Many, including those in television,
make money on us, film us, and sell the film abroad,
Once a total stranger brought us a cake and told us to
eat..

“There is nothing here. But in the provinces they simply
persecute us and don’t let us in. The AIDS prevention
law signed by Gorbachev is completely ignored. The law
forbids physicians to inform anybody of the disease, but
the police department and work place immediately find
out. We were fired or forced to ’voluntarily“ resign.
What do we have to live for?

“Then the Moscow Center for AIDS Prevention was
created... Its physicians were immediately sent on a
cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. They have not been
able to open up a dentist’s office here for five years.
What should we do, go to a regular polyclinic?

“In Odessa they also built a center, they pay the physi-
cians a large salary, but they don’t do anything. The
center’s building is closed for repairs.

“At our local hospital the surgeon refused to lance a boil.
They cursed me and threw me out. After all, I had
honestly cautioned him. They don’t need to be afraid of
me, but of those that do not give warning, many of whom
he may have already seen... I think that we need to create
our own organization to defend our interests.

“I was brought here by a escort from Sverdlovsk Oblast.
I was arrested. Our city public prosecutor has headed a
genuine persecution of homosexuals. He vowed to put
me someplace fitting—”to cleanse the city of infection“.
The physician at the venerology clinic violated the
physician’s confidence and informed the public prose-
cutor and my work place. I was fired and the local
newspaper published an article about me. I was finally
arrested. After all, we are people too.”

They are people too.

For those who would like to contribute funds for the
treatment of AIDS patients, here is the settlement
account for the center: 360504 in Perovskiy Department
of the MIB, MFO 201337, code 13, for the All-Union
Center for AIDS Prevention.

|


SJPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

Our republic cannot boast of either the speed or intensity
of measures that have been undertaken. With the excep-
tion of the Ministry of Health, virtually no one is worried
about the AIDS problem: in these times of changing to a
market economy, each ministry and agency, and each
institution are trying to survive independently. But
AIDS has no bearing on the market, and with such an
attitude it will raise very soon the question of survival of
our nation.

New AIDS Case in Nizhniy Novgorod
92WE0255D Moscow TRUD in Russian 6 Dec 91 p 1

[Article by V. Dolgodvorov: “AIDS in Nizhniy”]

[Text] Another patient stricken with the “plague of the
century,” this time a native of the city, was registered in
Nizhniy Novgorod.

A Frenchman who came to work at the motor vehicle
plant on the basis of a contract was the first a couple of
years ago. There was a lot of commotion. The promis-
cuous Frenchman was hastily deported from the
country. Lengthy investigations revealed that his
numerous partners had not caught the disease. But it is
not known whether all of the potential victims had been
established at that time.

And now another case. According to a report from the
local AIDS center the new victim is a 27-year-old bach-
elor, a bisexual. He is now in Moscow for treatment. His
regular partners include two men and one woman, and
the rest have yet to be revealed by the epidemiological
service.

These days a number of institutions are conducting mass
examinations, and representatives of the risk group have
been placed under special surveillance. This is until it is
revealed that there are no other carriers of the malicious
virus.

Private Donations to AIDS Fund
92WE0255C Moscow TRUD in Russian 11 Dec 91 p 1

[Article by C. Zhelezko: “Money for AIDS Patients”]

[Text] Over 130,000 rubles were deposited in the Soviet
charity and health fund for the prevention and control of
AIDS as a result of a benefit concert by “Yunona” and
“Avos” at the Lenin Komsomol Theater.

Contributions were made by enterprises such as the
Stankinbank, “Global Systems” and “Shans.” All of
these assets will be transferred to departments 8 and 9 of
the Moscow Clinical Infection Hospital No 2 for the
treatment of AIDS patients.

CENTRAL EURASIA 47

Ukrainian AIDS Prevention Law

92WE0235A Kiev HOLOS UKRAYINY in Ukrainian
9 Jan 92 p 12

[Article by L. Kravchuk, President of Ukraine, 12 Dec 91]

{Text] AIDS is a highly dangerous infectious disase for
which there is no cure and which invariably leads to
death. Consequently, AIDS prevention is one of the
most important public health concerns in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian AIDS prevention law has been formu-
lated in accordance with WHO recommendations.

Section 1. General Considerations
Article 1. Definitions:

HIV Infection: Disease caused by the human immu-
nodeficiency virus (HIV);

HIV-Infected Patients: Individuals infected with
HIV. This category encompasses asymptomatic sub-
jects (HIV carriers) and AIDS patients;

AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome):
end stage of HIV infection. AIDS patients present
with a variety of pathologic manifestations due to
suppression of the immune system by HIV.

Article 2. Ukrainian state health policy is directed at
providing the administrative and financial resources
necessary to prevent and control AIDS. This aspect of
national policy anticipates support for basic and clin-
ical AIDS research, health education and special
training for medical personnel.

Article 3. Administration of the AIDS campaign is the
responsibility of the Presidential National Committee
on AIDS Prevention (NCAP) and corresponding
regional and local committees.

NCAP reports directly to the President of Ukraine.

The head of NCAP is appointed by the President of
Ukraine.

Article 4. AIDS prevention is the responsibility of the
Ukrainian Ministry of Health and other appropriate
government agencies and departments.

Article 5. Ukrainian and international associations,
private individuals and citizens of other countries
engaged in charitable works may also participate in
AIDS prevention.

Activities of such associations and private individ-
uals must conform to the existing laws.



10 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Catholic Priest Discusses Spread of AIDS in
Rushinga

MB2901060092 Johannesburg SAPA in English
2113 GMT 28 Jan 92

[Text] Harare Jan 28 SAPA—About 60 percent of people
in protected villages and refugee camps in Rushinga,
Zimbabwe, are HIV positive, a Roman Catholic priest
said on Tuesday.

ZIANA national news agency reports that during an
address at a two-day workshop on the social implications
of the economic reform programme in light of the Bible
and the social teachings of the Catholic Church in
Zimbabwe, Reverend Fidelis Mukonori of Marymount
Mission said AIDS was spreading at an alarming rate in
Rushinga.

“So far, 26 people have died of AIDS at Marymount
Hospital, while 250 were currently under treatment,” he
said.

AIDS Figures Up 76 Percent for 1991

MBO0102105092 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1907 GMT 31 Jan 92

{Text] Harare Jan 31 SAPA—The number of AIDS cases
registered in Zimbabwe soared by 76 percent last year to
give the country a total of 10,551 cases since official
records were published in 1987.

Figures released by the Ministry of Health’s National
AIDS Control Programme show that 4,557 people devel-
oped the disease during the year.

The data is obtained from public health laboratory blood
tests for the virus.

In 1990 4,362 people contracted the disease.

Ministry of Health officials and private AIDS bodies say,
however, that the official figures reveal only part of the
picture: many more Zimbabweans who are likely to have
the disease have not undergone laboratory tests.

Local press reports on Friday said 60 percent of people
in the protected villages and refugees camps in the
district of Rushinga in the remote north-east of the
country—that until mid-last 1991 came under regular
attack from Renamo [Mozambique National Resistance]
guerrillas from Mozambique—had been found to be
HIV positive after recent testing.

In keeping with trends seen elsewhere, 55 percent of the
victims recorded since 1987 had belonged to the sexually
active age group of between 20 and 40 years.

Children below the age of four accounted for 18 percent
of AIDS sufferers.

Zimbabwe has the fifth highest cumulative number of
AIDS cases in Africa, according to January figures issued
by the health organisation.

IPRS-TEP-92-005
11 March 1992

It is led by Malawi with 12,074 cases, Zaire with 14,762,
Uganda with 21,719, and Tanzania with 27,396.

Officials caution, however, that the figures are likely to be
misleading because of severe underreporting in the conti-
nent’s generally severely run-down health administrations.

Number of Children Orphaned by AIDS
Increasing

MB1402055692 Johannesburg SAPA in English
2037 GMT 13 Feb 92

{Text] Mutare Feb 13 SAPA—Manicaland Province in
Zimbabwe has about 47,000 children under the age of 14
who were orphaned as a result of their parents dying of
AIDS-related diseases, a meeting heard in Mutare on
Thursday.

Of this, 10 percent had lost both parents, reports ZIANA.
National News Agency.

Presenting a paper at the three-day annual meeting of the
Zimbabwe AIDS Network (ZAN) in Mutare, Dr. Ruth
Shakespeare said the Ministry of Health had conducted a
national maternal and child health survey last September
which revealed that out of 294 households randomly
selected in the province, 29.9 percent had AIDS orphans.

The survey, which was sponsored by the World Health
Organisation (WHO), showed that out of a total of 904
children under the age of 14 surveyed, 61 or 6.8 percent
of them had either one or both of their parents dead.

“For Manicaland, this means that we have about 47,000
children who have lost either one or both parents
through AIDS,” Dr. Shakespeare said, adding that 60
percent of AIDS orphans in the Mutasa District alone
had lost a parent in the last two years.

Asa result of the increasing number of AIDS orphans in
the province, orphanages were becoming overcrowded,
leading to the mortality rate of 25 percent of children
under the age of one admitted in those institutions.

“So what we are doing, is we are setting up more
orphanages to cope with the increasing numbers, but the
work is still at a planning stage although we have a
sponsor to fund it.

“The increasing number of orphans and decreasing
number of wage earners is going to make the task very
difficult,” Dr. Shakespeare said.

Official Estimates on AIDS; Number of Orphans
To Increase

MB0603113392 Johannesburg SABC TV 1 Network
in English 0500 GMT 6 Mar 92

[Text] Official estimates are that one in 10 Zimbabweans
has AIDS. The number of children orphaned in the country
is set to skyrocket with latest figures showing that one in
three pregnant women carries the HIV virus which com-
monly results in full blown AIDS. One hospital in east
Zimbabwe is full of terminally ill AIDS victims and most of
them have not made provision for their children.