14 EAST ASIA

Health Minister Discusses AIDS Test Technique,
‘osts

92WE0352D Bangkok THAI RAT in Thai 21 Feb 92
pp 1,17

[Excerpt] [passage omitted] Thai doctors have made
progress in using a new process to check for the presence of
the AIDS virus in blood in order to increase efficiency in
preventing the spread of this disease from blood transfu-
sions. On the afternoon of 20 February, Dr. Anthasit
Wetchachiwa, the deputy minister of public health and the
head of the Department of Medicine at the Ramathibodi
Hospital, said that checking for the presence of the AIDS
virus in the blood using the “antibody” method is rather
inefficient. That is, it’s impossible to detect the virus during
the first three months after the virus has entered the body.
During this period, if a patient receives a blood transfusion
using the blood from such a donor, he could contract AIDS.

Dr. Anthasit said that in order to reduce the chances of
people contracting AIDS from blood transfusions, Dr.
Phimon Chieusin, the director of the blood bank at
Ramathibodi Hospital, has conducted studies on detecting
the AIDS virus in blood. She has used an “antigen” method,
that is, she looks for the AIDS virus directly. Her studies
have shown that this will help detect the AIDS virus within
two weeks after it enters the body. The Ramathibodi Hos-
pital has checked 3,400 blood samples and found one case of
AIDS using this direct method. At the National Blood
Donation Center, Thai Red Cross, blood samples from
80,000 people have been checked, and six cases of AIDS
have been found using this direct method. Approximately
800,000 bottles of blood are donated nationwide each year.
That means that if each of these is checked, about 80 bottles
of AIDS-infected blood will be found using the direct
method. Eighty bottles is enough for about 160 patients,
which means that this will save 160 people from contracting
AIDS from blood transfusions.

Dr. Anthasit said that the cost of checking for the AIDS
virus using the direct method is 50 baht per person, or
approximately 40 million baht per year. But that will keep
about 160 people from contracting the AIDS virus, which is
an average cost of approximately 250,000 baht per person.
That is very little money when compared with the value of
a human life and the nation’s economy. The National AIDS
Prevention and Control Committee has passed a resolution
calling for the use of this direct method of checking for the
virus. All hospitals should use this method in checking for
the AIDS virus. Patients will probably be happy to pay the
extra 50 baht. Besides this, the state will provide 10 million
baht to support those hospitals where much blood is given
or that are located in areas with a high incidence of AIDS.
He believes that in the near future, several other countries
such as the United States will start using this method of
testing for the AIDS virus. AIDS is spreading very rapidly.
Besides this, he is asking those who engage in activities that
put them at risk of contracting the AIDS virus not to donate
blood. This will help reduce the spread of this disease.

SIPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Anti-AIDS Measures for Blood Supply
92WE0352A Bangkok MATICHON in Thai 22 Feb 92
p3

[Text] On 21 February, Dr. Ratchani Ocharoen, the assis-
tant director of the National Blood Services Center, Thai
Red Cross, talked about people contracting AIDS from
blood transfusions. She said that in the past, antibody
checks were not widespread and so 50 people did in fact
contract the AIDS virus from blood transfusions. But since
we started making checks with antibodies before using the
donated blood, only six people have contracted the virus.
These people needed large quantities of blood in a hurry,
because they have leukemia or hemophilia. But since Sep-
tember 1991, antibody checks have not turned up any AIDS
patients who contracted the virus from a blood transfusion.
Doctors are now trying to use as little blood as possible.
They now give blood only when this is absolutely necessary,
such as when people have been in an accident.

Dr. Ratchani said that the Red Cross is now encouraging
people to “donate blood for themselves” in order to reduce
the risk of contracting a virus, including syphilis and hepa-
titis B. Beginning in March, the Thai Red Cross will tighten
the measures for selecting blood donors. It will use a
questionnaire in order to determine which blood donors are
in an at-risk group. If they are in an at-risk group, the Thai
Red Cross will not accept blood from them. To date, using
the antibody test, the AIDS virus has been found in only 0.4
percent of the blood samples taken from donors. The
government should provide financial support for con-
ducting antigen tests, which is the best method at present.

Dr. Praphan Phanuphak, the deputy director for technical
affairs, Department of Science, Thai Red Cross, said that
one way to prevent people with the AIDS virus from
donating blood is to educate those who plan to donate
blood. That is, if they have had sex with a prostitute within
the past three months without using a condom or if their
sexual partner has had sex with other people, they should
not donate blood. Hospital officials should give such people
a chance to refrain from donating blood. Examples are
soldiers who have been selected to donate blood. If a soldier
is not sure that his blood can be used, he should quietly
inform a doctor or nurse in order to prevent him from
donating blood.

“But some people in at-risk groups donate blood, because
they want to see if their blood tests positive or if they have
the AIDS virus. This is because donated blood is checked
automatically. Those people don’t dare go to a hospital for
a blood test, because they feel embarrassed. I think that
blood donors should know their own limitations,” said Dr.
Praphan.

A report stated that nationwide, people donate approxi-
mately 900,000 bottles of blood each year. About | percent
of the blood can’t be used because it tests positive for the
AIDS virus, the hepatitis virus, and so on.



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

of medical instruments and disinfectants at medical institu-
tions, carelessness on the part of workers in hair-dressing
salons, manicurists, pedicurists and cosmetologists, uncon-
trolled 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, Shakhty and Smolensk confirm this. Inciden-
tally, there are already enough examples in our republic.

To date, 68 people with HIV virus have been picked up in
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 moni-
toring 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,

Last year, 103,000 foreigners visited this republic as tour-
ists, 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. Inci-
dentally, 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 con-
tinuing 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.

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 undermined 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

CENTRAL EURASIA 35

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. Our republic cannot
boast of either the speed or intensity of measures that have
been undertaken. With the exception 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.

Legalization of Homosexuality Advised

92WE0255F Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
in Russian 11 Jan 92 p 6

[Letter to the Editor: “Rather Than Crushing the Homo-
sexual Community, It Should Be Brought Up From the
Underground: Possibly Then an AIDS Epidemic Will Not
Occur”)

[Text] Associates of the newspaper 1/10 read with interest
G. Lukyanchikov’s article “Legalization of Homosexuals
Threatens Escalation of the AIDS Epidemic,” published in
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA on 19 December of last year.
We share his concern for the AIDS problem in our country,
which we have been dealing with since 1989. From the very
beginning of the epidemic of the “plague of the 20th
century” we have kept in touch with homo- and bisexuals
among whom we were able to reveal AIDS for the first time.
There are now 106 homo- and bisexuals infected with the
AIDS virus in the country. It stands to reason that this
number should be 10 times greater, since many who are
infected have simply not been examined. In fact, the
number of infected individuals is now doubling approxi-
mately every 10-11 months. We can calculate from this that
by the year 2000, there will be around 200,000 infected
homo- and bisexuals in the country. However, those who
believe that the epidemic can be stopped by crushing and
eradicating homosexuals are absolutely wrong, at least
because we don’t see how this could be done. What is most
important is that the way to stop the epidemic is the
opposite of what is proposed. We have always argued for the
fastest possible legalization of homosexuals, and for an end
to their discrimination, and we continue to do so. The
Presence of articles in the Criminal Code foreseeing punish-
ment for homosexuality makes the homosexual population
practically inaccessible to preventive measures.

The author offers the example of the USA as evidence in
favor of his argument. However, without going into integral
and differential calculus, we note that after homosexuality
was legalized, the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco and Los
Angeles practically came to a standstill. Homosexual orga-
nizations emerging from the underground accepted the job
of sexual education and AIDS prevention.

We are grateful to G, Lukyanchikov in that by writing his
article he has accelerated the efforts to legalize homosexu-
ality, since no person with common sense could seriously



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

belong to the B and C classes, that is, to the rich and middle
classes. It is urgent and financially profitable for us to
increase the popularity of condoms: Preventing AIDS will
be much more economical than expensively treating a
disease that is incurable in any case.

Safieddine: What is your ministry’s communication policy
‘on preventing the spread of AIDS, particularly among social
classes that are largely illiterate and thus not reached by the
print media?

Akalay: Our communication policy is threefold. It involves:

* Field studies, notably among high-risk populations
(students, prostitutes, etc.), to assess the Moroccan
population’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices with
respect to AIDS.

* Direct communication with the media and high-risk
populations through conferences, seminars, round
tables, and press meetings that are conducted by
Ministry of Health agents or anti-AIDS organizations
in different Moroccan towns and regions.

+ Press communiques, bulletins, and studies that we
systematically dispatch to all of the nation’s print
media, and a few radio—and more rarely televised—
Programs.

The results—which you can publish—of the three studies
conducted so far are telling. They essentially show that 74
Percent of those surveyed have heard of AIDS, that 93
percent of students would like to know more about it, and
that radio and television are the most frequently cited
sources of information.

On this last point, we have to admit that there is a huge
information void to fill through the media that reach the
overwhelming majority of the population: radio and televi-
sion. We urgently need to step up the number of public
awareness programs and radio and television spots in the
broadcast media, in agreement with all the private and
public, national and regional stations. The broadcast media
must get across two messages: as much information as
possible about AIDS, and the promotion of condoms as the
only means of protection, and not just as a contraceptive
method. Unfortunately there is a great deal of resistance, the
upshot of which is that we have been waiting for several
months for television officials to approve the broadcast of
an AIDS public-service message—even though we produced
it with the sensibilities of Moroccan viewers in mind. We
are also preparing a film on AIDS with the educational
television station, that is intended for secondary-school
teachers and students. Likewise, we will soon distribute a
hundred thousand posters depicting an AIDS patient, to
bombard the population on a large scale and test the effect
of such a message.

Direct efforts through educational seminars and conferences
essentially target high-risk groups. During informational tours
in different regions of Morocco, we have already reached hotel
personnel, health-care professionals, and secondary-school
teachers, especially teachers of natural science.

Likewise, we conducted an informational: and public-
awareness campaign in conjunction with the Ministry of

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 31

Justice among Moroccan prisoners and, of course, peniten-
tiary doctors. We did the same among Armed Forces health
services, health officers at the borders, and even police
officers. All these people act as a network to relay the
information, but they cannot fill the media void left by
radio and television.

The First AIDS Studies in Morocco

Three studies were conducted in 1990 and 1991 to investi-
gate the behavior of Moroccans with respect to AIDS.

The first, which was carried out in Casablanca, looked at
106 prostitutes. It cost $11,000 and was financed by Family
Health International. The study showed that 65 percent of
the subjects perceive AIDS as a very serious illness, 5
percent see it as fairly serious, and the remaining 30 percent
are unaware of the risk and danger of the illness. Only 7
percent know how AIDS can be diagnosed.

Less than 6 percent use condoms frequently, 16 percent
employ them occasionally, 32 percent rarely, and 46 percent
never. The main obstacles to condom use seem to be their
unavailability and customers’ refusal.

Prostitutes must be educated through direct contacts. A
simultaneous informational campaign must be conducted.
among customers. Finally, we must solve the problem of
condom access.

The second study surveyed 600 students in Casablanca, Fes,
and Marrakesh. It cost $20,000.

The study showed that 96 percent of those surveyed know of
AIDS’s existence. Transmission among students is: Sixty
percent sexual; 41 percent via the blood; 20 percent from
syringes; and 16 percent from drug use. For prevention, 29
percent mention condoms, and 35 percent one’s choice of
sexual partners and avoidance of prostitutes. Finally, 93
percent of the students would like to know more about
AIDS.

The third study concerned a representative population
sample of 1,258 individuals. WHO financed the survey,
which cost $35,000. The study was made for the benefit of
the Ministry of Public Health.

The survey showed that 74 percent of those questioned had
heard of AIDS. The extent of their knowledge varied by age,
gender, marital status, education, place of residence, and
profession.

Over 90 percent named the principal transmission routes,
but distinguished between sex with foreigners, which 90
percent mentioned, and sexual relations with Moroccans,
which only 68 percent cited. Misconceptions about trans-
mission also exist, with 48.7 percent mentioning insect
bites, 41.1 percent food and silverware, 51.5 percent clothes,
and 52.3 percent sexuality.

Thirty-two percent of the sample cited condoms as a means
of contraception, with only 42 percent of those who mention
condoms believing that they can prevent AIDS.

Finally, radio and television are the most oft-cited sources
of information.



40 WEST EUROPE

developed the disease will require nursing and hospital
facilities as their conditions worsened.

The figures also disclose that 1,200 people have been tested
positive for HIV, and it was expected there were more than
this infected, Dr. O’Connell said.

It was vital to develop a fully integrated framework to deal
with AIDS and HIV, said the Minister. Recommendations
for this would be brought forward by the National AIDS
Strategy Committee and would be funded to enable the
services to respond effectively.

Fine Gael health spokesman Richard Bruton said that in
Britain health areas budgeted for L30,000 per person suf-
fering from AIDS. But in Ireland a GP only had about L20
to provide for AIDS victims, under the terms of the GMS.

Dublin was facing a health care disaster over AIDS that
could earn it the nickname, “European City of HIV Cul-
ture”, said Dr. Colm O’Mahony, an expert on sexually
transmitted diseases.

Coordinator’s Statement

92WE0431B Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT
in English 12 Mar 92 p 16

[Article by Clodagh Sheehy]

[Text] Full-blown AIDS cases were increasing “very, very
quickly”, a leading doctor warned yesterday.

National AIDS coordinator, Dr. James Walsh’s remarks
came as one major Dublin hospital announced it was
reaching its capacity to deal with the demand for beds for
AIDS patients.

John O’Brien, deputy chief executive officer of St. James's
Hospital, said they had allocated four beds for these patients
Jast October and this had increased to 15 in, January.

“We would feel we are reaching capacity to deal with this
problem,” said Mr. O’Brien.

He said the only way they could provide any additional beds
in this area would be to displace beds for other categories of
patient.

Dr. Walsh pointed out the number of full-blown AIDS cases
had increased from 230 at the beginning of December to
more than 260 now.

He said St. James’s was dealing with 700 in and out-patients
infected with the AIDS virus and that figure could rise by up
to another 400 in the near future.

According to the Irish Medical Times, four more people
have died of AIDS in the past month and six new cases of
the disease have been reported, while a total of 101 people
have died of the illness.

The biggest number of deaths has been in the homosexual
and bisexual group, where 34 people with full blown AIDS
have died.

The next largest group is intravenous drug users, where 32
have died. /

JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Eleven hemophiliacs have died, eight people who contracted
AIDS heterosexually, six who were homosexual or bisexual
and intravenous drug users, six babies born to drug users
and four people in an undetermined category.

SWEDEN

Court-Ordered Quarantining of HIV Carriers
92WE0419B Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 1 Apr 92 p 5

[Article by Kerstin Hellbom: “Six Infected Are Quaran-
tined”—first paragraph is DAGENS NYHETER introduc-
tion]

[Text] A man sentenced on Tuesday to seven years in
prison for rape is one of 12 HIV-positive individuals who
have been placed in quarantine under the Contagious
Diseases Protection Act. Currently there are six individuals
in quarantine.

The man sentenced for rape was one of the six who had been
discharged. He has been HIV positive since the middle of
the 1980's, but since he followed the directives for HIV-
positive individuals before the rape, there was no cause for
public health doctors to intervene. After the rape, the man
‘was taken into custody and quarantined for seven months.

“Later, we discharged him because we deemed that he
understood how to live with the HIV infection without
spreading it. He understood what was at stake and he was
under the supervision of various projects, a methadone
project, among others. And he followed the directives after
discharge,” said Barbro Beck, director for the Yellow House
in Danderyd, where HIV individuals under quarantine are
held.

“National Spaces”

Today six individuals are quarantined, five of whom are at
the Yellow House and one who is on probation at a
treatment center. One of the six, a prostitute, has been
quarantined since 1987,

Altogether, there are 10 “national spaces” for those in
quarantine, six at the Yellow House and four at Becko-
mberga. These cover the need.

Despite this, there continues to be strong criticism of the
free hand in Sweden to place HIV individuals into quaran-
tine. Sweden is the only country in Europe that does not
follow the European Council’s recommendations on the
civil rights of individuals testing positive for HIV. In
Sweden, HIV is classed as a socially-hazardous infectious
disease and can therefore be covered by the Contagious
Diseases Protection Act.

In the rest of Europe, HIV is not regarded as a socially-
hazardous disease because the infection can not be spread,
for example, by air or water. The HIV-positive individual
who knowingly spreads the infection via unsafe sex is
regarded as having committed a crime and is sentenced toa
jail term pursuant to the criminal code.

Last Tuesday, the Riksdag’s social committee deliberated
on four separate motions concerning the inclusion of HIV



8 CHINA

Over 200 AIDS Carriers

HK1603012092Z Beijing CHINA DAILY in English
16 Mar 92 p 3

[Article by staff reporter Zhu Baoxia: “Epidemic Death
Down Despite the Flood in °91”]

[Excerpt] Last year, a total of 212 people were detected to
have contracted HIV virus, which can lead to the fatal
disease of AIDS, among whom 177 are Chinese mainland
residents. One of them had already developed AIDS.

AIDS Prevention, Cure
HK0406104692 Beijing GUANGMING RIBAO
in Chinese 9 May 92 p 5

[Article by Zeng Liming (2582 0448 2494): “Drive Away
AIDS Phantom That Has Entered China—Situation of
Prevention and Cure of AIDS on Chinese Mainland”]

[Text] On 23 June 1985, the Foreign Patient Section of
Beijing’s Concord Hospital admitted an Argentinian-
American patient called (Meixina) (2734 6007 4780), who
was suffering from a high fever. The duty surgeon, Wang
Aixia, a professor of infectious diseases, found the patient
had some special symptoms. The patient himself claimed to
have contracted pneumonia, but the symptoms seemed to
indicate immunological deficiency. While conducting a
blood test on the patient, she managed to contact the
patient’s family doctor in the United States and learned
from the latter that (Meixina) had been identified as an
AIDS patient. The 34-year-old American patient finally
died of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, less than seven
days after hospitalization. He was the first AIDS patient
ever encountered by surgeons on the China mainland.

Eighteen months later, a Hong Kong man who had been
residing in the United States for nine years was hospitalized
in a medical ward of the Fujian Provincial Hospital. Diag-
nosis by the China Academy of Preventive Medicine con-
firmed that the man had contracted AIDS gastroenteric
syndrome. The patient, who was a cook, died 32 days after
hospitalization. His case was the first AIDS case ever
identified by mainland Chinese doctors.

On 9 February 1987, an official from the Zairian Embassy
in China who had contracted AIDS went to the Beijing
Concord Hospital for medical treatment. He was transferred
to Hong Kong 10 days later and admitted to Princess
Margaret Hospital. He died in that hospital on 6 March the
same year, before which the results of his medical tests
conducted at the Concord Hospital had already been sent to
Hong Kong, which showed a positive reaction to the AIDS
antibody test.

The Wolf Has Really Come

These three cases of AIDS infection sounded like crying
“wolf,” serving as an alarm to the mainland Chinese public
health circles. In October 1987 the Ministry of Public
Health set up a working group for the prevention of AIDS,
and a nationwide AIDS monitoring operation was started
immediately. Medical specialists called on all social sectors
to take measures to bar AIDS—the disease of the century—

IPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

from China’s territory. However, the doctors’ good wish has
not been realized. Wandering over the mainland, the ghost
of AIDS finally stealthily landed on China’s clean land, and
the virus began to spread. As announced by the Ministry of
Public Health, AIDS has been spreading farther and farther
in the country year after year since 1987:

In 1988, a total of 32 cases of AIDS infection were detected
in the China mainland (of the 32 patients, 26 were for-
eigners, four were haemophilia patients who contracted
AIDS through infusion of imported blood products, one was
an individual who returned from abroad after working on a
project aiding a foreign country, and one was a venereal
disease patient in Beijing).

In 1989, a total of 146 cases of AIDS infection were
Teported.

In 1990, 446 people were found to be infected with the
AIDS virus, of whom 398 were China mainland residents.

In 1991, 212 people in the country were newly identified as
being infected with the AIDS virus (including three AIDS
patients). So far a total of 705 cases of AIDS virus infection
have been monitored in the China mainland, and eight
AIDS patients have been identified, three of whom were
China mainland residents who died last year. These 705
cases of AIDS virus infection were found among major
population groups monitored in 15 provinces, municipali-
ties, and autonomous regions, including Liaoning, Yunnan,
Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Hunan,
and Beijing.

An official of the Chinese Ministry of Public Health con-
firmed that AIDS has already entered the China mainland.
According to Dai Zhicheng, director of the epidemic pre-
vention section, who is in charge of the prevention and
treatment of AIDS, the number of people infected by the
AIDS virus on the mainland has been increasing rapidly
since the discovery of the first case of local infection in
1988, and now the former pattern, mainly consisting of
cases of overseas infection, has changed into one mainly
made up of cases of local infection. Most local AIDS-
infected people were found among the drug addict popula-
tion, veneral disease patients, prostitutes, people traveling
abroad to visit relatives and people who have returned from
abroad after working on labor service projects, spouses of
those who have been infected with the AIDS virus, and
haemophilia patients. In terms of infection channels, some
cases of infection through sexual intercourse and blood
contact have been reported. Although no cases of maternal-
fetal infection have been found yet, there is a latent possi-
bility, and the situation is not optimistic, but grim.

The actual situation that China mainland hospitals are
facing conforms with Director Dai’s analysis. Of the six
cases of AIDS infection found in the Beijing area in 1990
and 1991, three were staff members of foreign embassies in
China, two were Chinese who had returned from working
abroad, and one was a worker who had had homosexual
relations with foreigners. Of the six individuals infected,
five have already died and the other is suffering from the
disease. Of the 615 individuals in the China mainland who
have been found to be infected by the AIDS virus, about



18 LATIN AMERICA

ARGENTINA

Government Launches Free Distribution of AZT

PY 1404005492 Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES
HERALD in English 13 Apr 92 p 7

[Text] (NA-DYN)—Saying that “with this measure we are
seeking to improve the quality of life” of Argentines suf-
fering from AIDS, Health Minister Julio Cesar Araoz
launched the government’s programme for free distribution
of the drug AZT while visiting one of the nation’s top
treatment centres.

After touring the wing of Muniz Hospital devoted to the
care of AIDS patients—where 91 individuals, including 21
prisoners, are currently being treated—with other officials
including Alfredo Miroli, director of the government’s
newly unveiled anti-AIDS campaign, Araoz announced on
Friday [10 April] that his ministry had already received a
shipment of 200,000 AZT pills and that it hopped to have
some 600,000 in hand within the next two weeks.

The government plans to distribute the drug, which can
delay the onset of symptoms associated with AIDS, free of
charge to lower- income individuals who have tested posi-
tive for the human immunodeficiency virus that causes
AIDS. AZT is a expensive treatment—one box costs 120
dollars and lasts for only 20 days.

Araoz also announced that the government would provide
jails with the materials necessary to test prisoners for AIDS
and prevent the spread of the virus behind bars. Several
months ago a scandal broke out when it was revealed that
the AIDS prisoner-patients at Muniz were kept chained to
their beds to prevent them from escaping or harming
medical personnel.

In addition, Araoz distributed a pamphlet that will be passed
out to the public as part of the anti-AIDS campaign. In a
statement inside, the health minister emphasizes the right of
individuals to take the prevention measures they feel appro-
priate while underlining that one of the project’s goals is
educating the public about the dangers of sexual transmission.

According to the booklet, between 1982—when the first
case of AIDS was detected here—and January 31 of this
year, 1,360 individuals have died or are under treatment for
the virus. However, the publication notes that the nonoffi-
cial count could be twice as high due to underreporting.

US. Interference in Anti-AIDS Campaign Criticized

PY1805210092 Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES
HERALD in English 18 May 92 p 11

[From the “Argentina in Brief’ column]

[Text] (NA)}—Radical Senator Ricardo Laferriere criticized
the recently launched government’s anti-AIDS campaign.
“While they promote a massive HIV testing campaign they
do not recommend the use of prophilactics.” In a document
presented at the Senate, Laferriere blasted the campaign
sponsored by the Health Ministry stating that its methods
“were ruled out by sanitary policy specialists in countries like
France, England and the United States and are not among
those recommended by the World Health Organization.”

IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

BARBADOS

Thirty AIDS Cases in First Quarter

FL0805144192 Bridgetown CANA in English
1312 GMT 8 May 92

[Text] Bridgetown, Barbados, May 8, CANA—Barbados has
reported 30 Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
(AIDS) cases for the first three months of the year. The
casualties, officials said, included a 22-month-old boy.
Acting chief medical officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr.
Elizabeth Ferdinand, described the figure as the highest
quarterly one to date.

The 30 comprised 22 males and eight females. Official
reports said 24 had already died. To date, Barbados has
reported a total of 282 AIDS cases, with 198 deaths.

The transmission of the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus
[HIV] which causes AIDS has been through homosexual-
bisexual and heterosexual contact. However, Dr. Ferdinand
told a news conference there had been a steady increase in the
number of AIDS cases associated with heterosexual activity.

Professor E.R. “Mickey” Walrond, chairman of the
National Advisory Committee on AIDS [NACA], said AIDS
testing in Barbados may be at risk if funds are not forth-
coming. He spoke against the backdrop of Barbados’ trou-
bled economic climate, which has forced government to cut
back financing of some projects.

“Where it threatens to have an effect and it has not had an
effect up to now, but if we don’t get enough funds later on in
the year it will, is in the provision of chemicals for the
volume of testing we would like to do,” the chairman told
reporters.

“We started on a very small scale of testing in 1985 and it
rose to a considerable number by last year where we had
done nearly 10,500 tests last year and we wanted to increase
that even more.

“We were hoping to increase that to nearly 20,000 this year.”

Dr. Walrond said NACA was hoping to embark on research
in the community to find out the prevalence of HIV.

“At the moment we have some indicators, but we don’t have
a really scientific study and all that we need to do. What we
are not sure is if we are going to be able to do as much as
that,” he said.

CUBA

AIDS Sanitarium in Matanzas Discussed
92WE0448A Havana BOHEMIA in Spanish
1 May 92 pp 30-33

[Article by Juan Carlos Rivera]

[Text] They met like any couple, and they even confess to
having fallen in love in the usual way. Except for one big
difference: Maria and Alberto lived as celibates in the
Santiago de las Vegas Sanitarium, and they carry the human
immunodeficiency virus [HIV], which leads inexorably to
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS] and death.



36 CENTRAL EURASIA

accept his arguments, which are totally permeated by
homophobia and misanthropic sentiments.

[Signed] Dima Lychev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper
1/10 Associates of the editor’s office: Tomash Radek, S.-D.
Labetski, A. Prokofyev, S. Krivchik

Financing of Russian Anti-AIDS Program
Uncertain

92WE0411D Moscow KURANTY in Russian 1 Feb 92
p2

[Article by Aleksandr Kharlamov: “AIDS Marches Across
the Country”]

[Text] Scientific associates of the Central Scientific
Research Institute of Epidemiology and AIDS specialists
have reported that around 120 million citizens of the former
USSR and around 1 million foreigners have been tested for
AIDS in the country since 1986. As of 1 January 1992, 672
virus carriers and 60 patients have been revealed, and
around 50 AIDS deaths have been recorded. According to
the predictions the number of virus carriers may reach
10000 persons in states of the Commonwealth by the year
0.

Russia is producing a sufficient quantity of test systems for
diagnosing AIDS. Specialists even feel that we could export
our procedures abroad. However, it is still not clear how the
anti-AIDS programs will be financed. To reduce the number
of cases of infection by the AIDS virus, specialists suggest
organizing safe sex lessons in vocational-technical schools,
in specialized secondary schools and in the senior grades of
secondary schools. Such work must also be carried out with
representatives of the risk group—prostitutes, homosexuals
and others.

Russia Announces Anti-AIDS Program

92WE0411A Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
in Russian 24 Mar 92 p 1

[Article by Andrey Bayduzhiy: “Russia Has Written a
Program to Fight AIDS: Pessimistic Forecasts on the Dis-
ease’s Spread Have Not Yet Come True”]

[Text] In March of this year Russia celebrated a sad anni-
versary—it was exactly 5 years ago that the first HIV carrier
was registered on its territory. Since that time carriers of the
virus have been registered in 45 republics, and 539 persons
infected and ill with AIDS have been revealed in the krays
and oblasts of the Russian Federation, 69 of whom have
already died. In addition 340 foreigners infected with the
virus have been deported from the country.

This week the board of the Russian Ministry of Health and
the State Committee for Epidemiological Inspection
adopted Russia’s first anti-AIDS program for 1992-1995
jointly with the Academy of Medical Sciences. It was
announced at a conference that the rather pessimistic fore-
casts announced a few years ago have not come true—the
number of infected persons is several times below the
prediction. According to Minister of Health Andrey Voro-
byev, Russia is indebted almost entirely for its relative well
being in the epidemiological aspect, including in relation to

IPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

AIDS, to a system of extensive medical testing of the
population. While this system may be expensive and not
beyond reproach from the standpoint of observing human
rights, it is well organized. Just in 1991 25 million persons
were tested, more than in all European countries put
together. The Ministry of Health will continue to fight for
continuation of this procedure in the future, as far as its
strength will allow. “We do not intend to reject this system.
just because it’s not in America,” the minister declared. A
branched network of anti-AIDS institutions is currently
operating in Russia, including 68 territorial centers, over
700 laboratories and 128 anonymous testing offices.

Still, in the opinion of specialists there are no special
grounds for rejoicing. Over half of the infected persons are
in the so-called risk groups—prostitutes, drug addicts and
homosexuals, who are practically out of reach of medical
control, and the real number of infected persons among
them is much greater than the quantity of carriers that have
been detected. After the spread of the virus peaked in
1989-1990, during which time the number of infected
individuals increased by several times as a result of trans-
mission of infections within hospitals in the Northern
Caucasus, and after a certain decrease in the number of
infected individuals, in 1991 their number began to grow
once again. In the first 2 months as many as 22 infected
individuals were revealed, as compared to 66 cases in all of
last year. The low level of public health services to the
population can result at any moment in a situation where
Russia will quickly “catch up” to countries of Western
Europe.

Besides the purely medical problems, a number of other
causes are making the work of doctors difficult. An article
foreseeing punishment for homosexual behavior has still not
been repealed from the Russian Criminal Code, and
infected individuals of this group are afraid to get help. Nor
is industry able to produce the needed quantity of protective
resources. A paradoxical situation has evolved with con-
doms. While the demand for them is 1.2 billion units and
only 226 million have been produced, these articles are still
available in the stores—evidence that the overwhelming
majority of the population simply does not use them.

AIDS Victims Support Society Meets in Moscow

PM2804151392 Moscow Russian Television Network
in Russian 1900 GMT 25 Apr 92

[From the “Vesti” newscast: Video report by N. Pavlov amd
D. Akinfeyev, identified by caption; figures in brackets
denote broadcast time in GMT in hours, minutes, and
seconds]

[Text] [191513] To date 516 people have been registered in
Russia as infected by or suffering from AIDS. According to
the Central Epidemilogical Institute, 46 people have died of
AIDS over the past five years. Characteristically, we pride
ourselves on the small number of people suffering from
AIDS in our country in comparison with other countries.
However, medical personnel regard the system of identi-
fying sufferers as ineffective. According to unofficial data,
the number of people infected with AIDS in our country is
much higher.



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 Jane 1992 4 AIDS
VENEZUELA
AIDS Cases, Information Campaign Discussed [Caracas EL UNIVERSAL, 12 Mar 92]
NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA
REGIONAL AFFAIRS
WHO Director Discusses AIDS [Jeddah 'UKAZ, 27 Apr 92]
BANGLADESH
Eight HIV Positive Cases Detected So Far [Dhaka Radio Bangladesh Network, 2 May 92] sees. 23
EGYPT
Overview of Spread, Treatment of AIDS in Egypt London AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT, 21 Jan 92] . 23
INDIA
Papers Report on Struggle Against AIDS. .......
First Kaposi’s Sarcoma Case {Madras THE HINDU, 28 Mar 92]
Armed Forces Screening [New Delhi INDIAN EXPRESS, 29 Feb 92]
Underestimates Scored [New Delhi INDIAN EXPRESS, 7 Mar 92]
Fight Against AIDS Continues, Statistics Given
Bombay Physician’s Report
[Bachi J. Karkaria; Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA, 6 Apr 92]
Statewise Distribution [New Delhi INDIAN EXPRESS, 28 Mar 9:
AIDS in Navy [Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH, 30 Mar 92]
Help From World Bank {Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH, 3 Apr 9:
Sharp Rise in AIDS in Calcutta [Calcutta THE STATESMAN, 15 Apr
New Delhi, Islamabad Discuss Pakistan HIV-Free Requirement
[Delhi All India Radio Network, 28 May 92]
ISRAEL
Spread of AIDS Virus Doubled Compared to 1990 /Tel Aviv HADASHOT, 27 May 92] ....
JORDAN

TIMES On Number of AIDS Cases in Country
[Maha ‘Addasi; Amman JORDAN TIMES, 21-22 May 92] ....

MOROCCO

Costs, Methods of Fighting AIDS Discussed
[Faten Safieddine; Casablanca LA VIE ECONOMIQUE, 3 Apr 92]

CENTRAL EURASIA

Uzbekistan Institutes AIDS Education for Youth

[Liliya Belei; MOLODEZH UZBEKISTANA, 5 Nov 91] .....
Uzbek Anti-AIDS Law Tashkent MOLODEZH UZBEKISTANA, 14 Nov 91] .
AIDS Cases on Rise in Belarus _/V. Glazovskiy; Minsk SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA, 30 Nov 91] ...... 34

28

Legalization of Homosexuality Advised [Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA, 11 Jan 92] . 35
Financing of Russian Anti-AIDS Program Uncertain
[Aleksandr Kharlamov; Moscow KURANTY, 1 Feb 92] ..... 36

Russia Announces Anti-AIDS Program

[Andrey Bayduzhiy; Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA, 24 Mar 92]
AIDS Victims Support Society Meets in Moscow

IN. Pavlov amd D. Akinfeyev; Moscow Russian Television Network, 25 Apr 92] ....



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Yinon Shenkar, coordinator of the AIDS prevention
project, provided the gathering with data on the spread of
the virus in Israel. He said that 21 people carrying the AIDS
virus were reported in the past month, and since the start of
the year, 77 new cases were reported, 16 of them women.
That is double the number of AIDS virus carriers reported
in the first six months of 1991. [Passage omitted]

JORDAN

TIMES On Number of AIDS Cases in Country

JN2105123692 Amman JORDAN TIMES in English
21-22 May 92 p3

[Special report to the JORDAN TIMES by Maha ’Addasi]

[Excerpt] Amman—The number of patients suffering from
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Jordan
has reached a record 72 this year, up from 38 in 1989, but
measures are being taken to combat the killer disease.

The numbers, which were released at a one-day seminar
entitled “The Role of the Voluntary Sector in Preventing the
Spread of AIDS,” which took place at the Philadelphia
Hotel Wednesday, organised by the Ministry of Health in
cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO),
were mentioned along with the need to educate people on
the different methods responsible for the spread of this
disease. [passage omitted]

MOROCCO

Costs, Methods of Fighting AIDS Discussed
92WPO0405A Casablanca LA VIE ECONOMIQUE
in French 3 Apr 92 pp 1, 3

{Interview with Othman Akalay, head of epidemiology at
the Ministry of Health, by Faten Safieddine: “AIDS in
Morocco: What It Will Cost”; first six paragraphs are LA
VIE ECONOMIQUE introduction]

[Text] Mr. Othman Akalay, who is the head of the Epide-
miology Department at the Ministry of Health, briefed us
about the study to predict the human and financial costs of
the scourge.

* According to Dr. Akalay, the Ibn Rochd Hospital
recently calculated that an AIDS patient costs the
state an average of 75,200 Moroccan dirhams (Dh).
By the year 2001, pessimistic forecasts put the cumu-
lative number of our AIDS cases at 8,810. Morocco
will have 20,979 seropositive individuals, and 709
AIDS cases. This would cost the state Dh102.805
million—adjusted for inflation—in hospital costs and
services, and a minimum of Dh10.150 million annu-
ally for ancillary expenses. The use of condoms is still
the only effective means of protecting oneself against
AIDS. But their cost remains prohibitive for the
poorest classes.

Despite media campaigns by the Ministry of Health and
certain associations to raise the public’s awareness of the
seriousness of AIDS, Moroccans are still ill-informed about
what the disease will cost us humanly and financially, both

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 29

now and in the near future. The director of the Ministry of
Health’s Epidemiology Department, Dr. Othman Akalay,
was kind enough to grant us an exclusive interview detailing
the results of his department’s studies on these basic aspects
of the problem.

Safieddine: Is there a way to evaluate what AIDS is now
costing Morocco in human and financial terms? And if no
radical cure is found in the meantime, what will it cost us in
the near future?

Akalay: It is never easy to evaluate the cost of an illness; first
because there is often a lack of reliable data, and second
because anything to do with human health is always bound
up with complex ethical problems. Yet we cannot ignore the
economic and financial dimension of health problems,
which we need to know to do any real planning. To assess
the cost of AIDS, we must measure the current epidemic
and make projections for the future. We have computer
models that help us see the picture more clearly. One of
them—EPIMODEL, the most widely used in the world—
generates several hypotheses for the future:

1) If the cumulative number of AIDS cases that have been
reported to us is correct—that is, if Morocco has had a sum
total of only 98 cases between 1986 and the end of 1991—
and in the unlikely event that all the cases have been
correctly reported, it would mean that the cumulative
number of HIV infections in 1991 was 1,508, with 1,410
seropositives. It also means that the number of new infec-
tions in 1991 was 365, and that 35 people died of AIDS
during the year, bringing the cumulative number of deaths
to 76. If we admit that hypothesis, then 10 years later, in
2010, we would have 1,810 cumulative AIDS cases, 3,748
cases of HIV infection, and 135 AIDS cases. The incidence
of the disease—that is, the number of new AIDS cases
reported during 2001—would be 270.

2) It is possible to advance other hypotheses, and suppose
that the cases reported to the Public Health Ministry repre-
sent only a half, a third, or a quarter of the real cases.
Obviously, the projections vary depending on which we
assume. Personally, I am inclined to think that double would
be closer to the real situation than the other projections. But
assuming the worst—that is, that we know about only one
quarter of the actual cases—we would have 8,810 cumulative
cases of AIDS, 20,979 seropositive individuals, and 709
AIDS cases in 2001. The incidence of AIDS would be 1,478
full-blown cases and 2,238 cases of infection. During 2001,
1,370 people would die of AIDS, bringing cumulative deaths
to 8,101. Those are the extreme projections.

So much for the human cost. But what is the economic and
social impact?

+ Looking at the current situation in the world, we see
that one out of four hospital beds in the United States
of America in 1991 is occupied by an AIDS patient.
The annual cost of caring for an AIDS patient, from
diagnosis to death, is about 73,000 U.S. dollars, or
nearly Dh620,000. A Tanzanian patient costs only
$400, or Dh3,400, while the cost of a hospitalized
Zairian child is $91, or Dh774. The difference is



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Lampang AIDS Morbidity Spreads to Housewives
92WE0352B Bangkok SIAM RAT in Thai 24 Feb 92
pl6

{Excerpts] Dr. Nopphadon Sombun, the public health
officer in Lampang province, said that in Lampang Prov-
ince, the AIDS virus is being spread through sexual inter-
course. Prostitutes are an important cause in the spread of
this disease. Because men frequently use the services of a
prostitute, more and more housewives are contracting the
disease from their husbands. [passage omitted]

As for control measures, the Provincial Public Health Office
is now promoting the use of condoms by everyone who has
sex with a prostitute in order to reduce the spread of AIDS.
Last January, 17 people tested positive for the AIDS virus,
All of these were men who frequently visit prostitutes.

Concerning the AIDS situation in Lampang Province, the
Lampang public health officer said that as of the end of
January, 1,706 people had the AIDS virus and three had
AIDS-related symptoms. Nine people had full-blown cases
of AIDS, and one patient was transferred from the Bamrat
Naradun Hospital for a total of 10 cases. However, nine of
those with full-blown cases of AIDS have died. As of today,
only one, a man who frequented prostitutes, is still alive.

Only two of those with AIDS-related symptoms are still
alive. These people contracted AIDS through sexual inter-
course. Of those with the AIDS virus in Lampang Province,
only 1,463 are still alive.

Besides this, one newborn infant was found to have the
AIDS virus. Another 64 babies born to women who have the
AIDS virus are being monitored to see if they have the
disease.

Specialists Note Anti-AIDS Measures in
Dentistry

92 WE0352E Bangkok SIAM RAT in Thai 27 Feb 92
p

[Excerpts] Professor Pradit Charoenthaithawi, the rector of
Mahidol University, said that it is well known that AIDS is
a very dangerous disease. Those who have AIDS suffer a lot,
and this disease is fatal. Statistics compiled by the AIDS
Division, Ministry of Public Health, show that as of 31
January, there were 952 people with full-blown cases of
AIDS. Of these, 706 contracted the disease from sexual
intercourse, 186 contracted the disease from needles used to
inject narcotics, eight got the disease from blood transfu-
sions, 26 got the virus from their mother, and 26 cases are of
unknown origin.

Even though no one in Thailand has contracted AIDS from
having dental work done, in the United States, in 1990, four
people contracted AIDS from having dental work done.
[passage omitted}

The Faculty of Dentistry at Mahidol University has devel-
oped measures for keeping dental instruments clean. These
instruments can be divided into two types:

EAST ASIA 15

Dental instruments designed for use just one time. This
includes surgical blades, stitching needles, and saliva suc-
tion tips. After these have been used once, they must be
discarded. They must be packed in containers, which must
be sealed tightly before being thrown away. They must not
be used on other patients.

Instruments designed to be used many times. This includes
tools used to fill and pull teeth and drills. These must
immediately be placed in a solution of 0.5 percent sodium
hypochloride for 30 minutes. Those instruments, such as
metal instruments, that cannot be placed in a solution of
sodium hypochloride, must be soaked in alcohol for 10
minutes, in a solution of 4 percent formaldehyde for 10
minutes, in tincture of iodine in 70-percent alcohol for 10
minutes, or in a solution of 6 percent hydrogen peroxide for
10 minutes in order to ensure that the virus is dead. After
that, the instruments must be washed in water in order to
remove the saliva and blood and any pieces of teeth left
behind and then sterilized at 121° C for 20 minutes in a
stream of water, dry baked at 170° C for 2 hours, boiled for
20 minutes, or soaked in a 1:200 solution of Savion.
[passage omitted]

AIDS from Transfusions Seen Increasing
92WE0352C Bangkok DAO SIAM in Thai 28 Feb 92
ppl,8

[Excerpt] [Passage omitted] Professor Pradit Charoenthai-
thawi, the rector of Mahidol University, said that the spread
of the AIDS virus from blood transfusions is increasing.
This is because the incidence of AIDS in the population is
increasing quickly. Sirirat Hospital has discovered 60
people who contracted the AIDS virus from blood transfu-
sions. All of this blood came from donors who donated
blood at the Sirirat Hospital.

Professor Pradit said that the Ministry of Public Health and
the Thai Red Cross have implemented measures to check
for the AIDS virus in donated blood by checking for the
AIDS virus directly, or checking for HIV antigens, just after
the virus enters the body. But he said that even if more tests
are conducted to check for HIV antigens, we will not be able
to prevent people from contracting AIDS from infected
blood. This is because in checking blood for the AIDS virus,
after the virus enters the body, it takes about 15 days for the
blood to test positive. During that period, the body has the
AIDS virus and that person can spread the virus to others.

The rector of Mahidol University said that the best way to
prevent the spread of AIDS from blood transfusions is for
people to periodically donate blood and store it for their
own use if that should become necessary, for example, if
they have to have an operation or if they are in an accident.
Besides this, they should be careful in order to prevent
accidents. Or they should use blood only when absolutely
necessary. These steps will greatly reduce the risk of con-
tracting AIDS.



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

infected persons nationwide to 1,831, the president of the
National Committee on AIDS, Enrique Zelaya, reported
yesterday.

The official explained that the problem of this disease has
become more serious since February and that three cases
daily were being registered in March.

“That does not mean that the campaign has had no effect.
What happens is that the incubation period for AIDS is
rather long; therefore, the results will be visible in a few
years”, he explained.

Zelaya reported that the proportion of infection by gender
continues to be two men to one woman, and, as opposed to
other countries, the form of transmission is heterosexual,
that is, from man to woman and vice versa.

The number of infected persons for each carrier had been
about 50 to 1. Zelaya said that it has decreased to 25 and 40,
“therefore we have in the neighborhood of some 50,000
infected persons who represent 1.25 percent of the national
population, which is on the order of more than 4 million.

AIDS Cases Up 102, Total 1,709
92WE0375A San Pedro Sula TIEMPO in Spanish
3 Mar 92p9

[Text] Tegucigalpa—Cesar Nunez, the National AIDS Con-
trol Program technical assistant, reported an additional 102
cases of AIDS yesterday. This brings the national total of
those affected by this disease to 1,709.

These cases were detected in Health Region No. 3, which
covers San Pedro Sula, Puerto Cortes, and other towns, and
Health Region No. 5, which covers the western part of the
country, Nunez said.

He indicated that this number is consistent with the regular
reports of AIDS cases received.

He reported that there are 50 people who are carrying the
HIV virus but have not yet developed the disease, or who
fall into the category of those suffering from AIDS-related
complex.

Nunez said that he could not provide any exact figures on
the cases because the information is still being processed.
However, he said that on the basis of what he remembered
of the report, there are nursing mothers among those
affected by this disease.

ST. LUCIA

Thirty-Two AIDS Deaths Registered Since 1985
FL 1205224392 Bridgetown CANA in English
2121 GMT 12 May 92

[Text] Castries, St. Lucia, May 12, CANA—The director of St
Lucia’s AIDS programme said authorities may have to switch
to a new strategy to counter the spread of the fatal disease on
the island. Dr. Michelle Ohms expressed concern at evidence
showing St. Lucians were not changing their sexual behav-
iour, despite awareness of AIDS—Acquired Immune Defi-
ciency Syndrome—which kills by breaking down the body’s
lefences.

LATIN AMERICA a

“,.. There is probably a need to change the approach, the
way we educate, involve them, but I think the biggest
resistance is coming from the people themselves who don’t
recognise themselves at risk,” she said. “They still consider
it something for other people.”

Dr. Ohms voiced particular concern at findings that some
persons with partners who had either contracted the AIDS-
causing HIV virus or had died from the disease, were still
going around having unprotected sex.

“I am particularly scared when I see that we have discovered
more HIV (carriers)... And most of the people in the area
had sexual relationships with these people and they still go
ahead and don’t take any protection,” she said.

According to official statistics up to the end of March, there
were 77 HIV positive persons on the island, and 32 AIDS
deaths since St. Lucia began keeping records in 1985. Dr.
Ohms said the disease was being spread mainly through
heterosexual contact, with the breakdown of cases being 44
males and 33 females.

ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES

Long AIDS Incubation Renders Data ‘Tip of Iceberg’

FL2505221992 Bridgetown CANA in English
2127 GMT 25 May 92

{Text] Kingstown, St. Vincent, May 25, CANA—Health
authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines say they are
worried that people are not applying information they have
about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases to their
sexual activity.

Sister Anne Anderson, co-ordinator of government’s
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) programme,
said this situation was borne out by the results of a recent
survey which revealed a wide gap between knowledge and
sexual behaviour. She said available data also showed an
“upsurge in sexually transmitted diseases.”

It is against this background that the Ministry of Health had
targeted behavioural change as its major goal in a medium-
term health programme on AIDS and sexually transmitted
diseases started this year. Major components of the pro-
gramme include training of health personnel to make them
more aware of diagnostic procedures and improvements to
existing laboratory facilities.

Three new cases of AIDS have been reported this year, all
male. Currently, the number of persons who have tested
positive for the AIDS virus number 90, with 36 deaths
recorded since the first case was recorded here in 1984, Sister
Anderson said. She noted, however, that because of the
nature of the condition and the relatively long incubation
period, available AIDS data would always represent the “tip
of the iceberg.”



SIPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

BULGARIA

Data on AIDS Spread in Bulgaria
AUI705151292 Sofia BTA in English 1407 GMT
17 May 92

(Report by Tanya Tsekova: “AIDS in Bulgaria”)

[Text] Sofia, May 17 (BTA)}—Today Bulgaria marks the
International AIDS Day for the first time. In the last few
days the media repeatedly called on those showing concern
for AIDS victims to light a candle at 9 p.m. [1800 GMT]. At
a commemorative concert in the open which will be staged
under the honorary patronage of President Zhelyu Zhelev.

On the whole, Bulgaria has not been hard hit by AIDS.
Thirteen people have died, 15 have fully developed the
symptoms and 107 are registered as HIV-infected.
According to experts, however, only one in fifty HIV car-
tiers are registered.

Dimitur Dukov, chairman of the No-AIDS National Foun-
dation, believes that there is no place for complacency.
Bulgaria is opening itself to the world, prostitution and drug.
addiction are becoming wide-spread and people are afraid
to have a blood test for AIDS because they are not sure that
the results will be kept secret. In addition, laboratories and
medicines are insufficient. “Money is not the only problem.
The biggest problem is indifference, too many people have
not realized that the epidemic will not leave us unscathed,”
Mr. Dukov says. Bulgaria is already implementing a
medium-term AIDS programme in compliance with the
requirements of the World Health Organization.

The results of a sociological survey conducted in Sofia’s
secondary schools are a cause for alarm. The survey reports
that 99.5 percent of 18-year-olds know that AIDS is a
sexually-transmitted disease but only 44 percent know how
to protect themselves. Of the 84.2 percent who have sexual
contacts only 20.6 percent use condoms. Experts comment
that AIDS is a potential threat to four-fifths of Bulgarian
young people. What is more alarming still, 62 percent of
respondents believe that having multiple sex partners is
normal and 22 percent of them have had chance sexual
contacts. The survey also shows that 18-year-old students
are under the delusion that blood donation and any kind of
contact with AIDS carriers are risky.

Physicians at Sofia’s hospital for infectious diseases where
AIDS patients are treated say that none of the patients has
been forsaken by his or her relatives. The initial panic
observed five years ago when the first AIDS carriers—most

EAST EUROPE 17

of them foreigners who had to immediately leave this
country—has been overcome.

Anew attitude is emerging towards AIDS victims. However,
the legal problems related to the disease are far from being
solved.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

AIDS/HIV Cases Figures Released

AU0305155492 Prague SVOBODNE SLOVO in Czech
28 Apr p8&

[Text] A total of 25 fully developed AIDS cases were
recorded in the Czech Republic as of 31 March 1992. These
involved 24 CSFR citizens and one foreigner. Of the 24
cases involving CSFR citizens (all adult males), 21 were
homosexual or bisexual. There was one hemophiliac, one
person that contracted the disease from a transfusion, and in
‘one case it was not clear how the disease was contracted.

As of the same date a further 99 CSFR citizens and 77
foreigners were recorded as HIV positive without the symp-
toms of full-blown AIDS. ‘Of the 99 HIV positive CSFR
citizens, 58 were homosexual or bisexual, 15 were hemo-
philiacs, 13 contracted the disease from a transfusion, and
one was a drug addict. In seven cases the disease was
transmitted via heterosexual intercourse and in five cases it
was not clear how the disease was transmitted. These 99
cases involved 91 men and eight women. In seven cases they
involved children under seven years old. The children and
hemopheliacs were infected before tests were carried out on
blood for the HIV positive virus. Of the 77 HIV positive
foreigners, 67 of them came from African countries.

New instructions guaranteeing a single course of action in
preventing and treating AIDS/HIV cases in the Czech
Republic were approved by the Czech health minister in
March. The principle of obligation to submit to a test has
been replaced by the voluntary principle. Complete ano-
nymity during a test, if the patient wishes it, is also
guaranteed.

HUNGARY

Number of AIDS Cases Increases

LD1805222992 Budapest MTI in English 1334 GMT
18 May 92

[Text] Budapest, May 18 (MTI)—To date 48 people have
died of AIDS in Hungary. Of the 300 HIV-positive cases, 88
have developed the disease. It is estimated that the number
of people infected with the virus has resached 1,800.



30 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

enormous. To illustrate the disparity, let me point out
that the annual budget of Kinshasa’s main hospital is
less than the cost of treating 10 AIDS patients in the
ULS.A.

* In Europe, the cost of hospital care for AIDS patients
and seropositive patients was estimated at 25 billion
French francs [Fr] in 1991. Three percent of the
hospitals beds at Public Assistance in Paris are occu-
pied by AIDS patients.

* In Morocco, calculations made recently at our request
by the Infectious Diseases department team at the Ibn
Rochd Hospital Center in Casablanca indicate that
the average AIDS patient cost the state Dh75,200
($8,850): 65.5 percent of that went for medications
and 35.5 percent to the cost of hospitalization and
clinic examinations. That puts Morocco midway
between the United States (12 percent) and sub-
Saharan African countries (2,200 percent of what
Tanzania spends).

« This means that in 1991, a year when we treated
about 30 cases, we spent Dh2,256,000. In 2001,
according to the most optimistic scenario, our annual
hospital expenditures for AIDS will be Dh19,575,000
in inflation-adjusted dirhams. If we take the worst
case scenario, we will spend Dh102,805,000, adjusted
for inflation. If we assume the optimistic forecast, and
consider all hospital expenditures from the epi-
demic’s start in 1986 to the year 2001, we get a total
of Dh131.225 million in 1991 dirhams.

+ If we factor in the other expenditures—essentially
systematic blood testing for transfusions (an average
of Dh5 million a year) and informational and educa-
tional efforts, whose total cost for 1992 is predicted to
be Dh5.150 million—then the annual minimum is
about Dh10.15 million.

« Thus, in 1992, total direct costs will exceed Dh30
million at Moroccan currency rates.

Safieddine: Then what are the indirect so¢ial and demo-
graphic costs?

Akalay: The age group most affected by AIDS are the 25- to
45-year olds, who are at the peak of their productivity and
who escaped death from childhood illnesses. At current
international death rates, the added mortality among adults
due to AIDS is estimated at 0.1 percent. According to the
World Bank, this translates into a 30-percent average drop
in GNP [gross national product] growth. The situation is
more worrisome in urban than in rural areas: In Africa,
AIDS has hit managers and the ruling classes hard. Some
African national airlines have already been affected by a
shortage of pilots lost to AIDS. Some projections underscore
the risk of political repercussions and government destabi-
lization, linked to high death rates in state organizations.
African countries have invested heavily in these managers,
who die young before they even have time to contribute to
their country’s prosperity.

There are also demographic repercussions: AIDS is slowing
down the infant mortality decline in developing countries.
We know that 5 to 20 percent of women of childbearing age
in Africa are seropositive. That is a huge shadow over
Africa’s demographic future.

JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Economies have been weakened: Zambia is an eloquent
example. Zambian copper mines account for 20 percent of
the state’s gross national product. The seropositivity rate is
10 percent among miners, and the country has been faced
with a steady increase in the number of AIDS patients for
the last four years. Consequently, because of their system of
medical and social benefits, which guarantees free care to
everyone, Zambia’s industrial economy has been steadily
deteriorating. The extent to which AIDS reduces the poten-
tial labor pool in each country obviously varies, but in
countries where the HIV-positive rate reaches 30 percent in
urban areas, it will be tough to maintain competitive eco-
nomic organizations. African researchers have tried to
qualify the economic weight of AIDS, and posit that each
case of HIV infection equals 8.8 productive years in a
healthy individual’s life.

Another social consequence is that, 10 years from now, the
death of fathers and mothers from AIDS will have orphaned
10 million children worldwide. What will become of them?
Who will take charge of them and at what price?

Safieddine: All the media campaigns against AIDS cite
condoms as the sole means of protecting oneself against the
disease. Do you have an estimate of how many condoms are
now being used in Morocco?

Akalay: Condoms are indeed the only effective and uni-
versal means of protecting oneself against AIDS infection
through sexual relations. Condom consumption patterns in
Morocco break down as follows:

Annual consumption is 6 million condoms. The state (the
Public Health Ministry) distributes 3.5 million free of
charge and the private sector sells 2.5 million. There are four
brands of condoms on the private market, and one of them
accounts for half of all sales. That brand is subsidized and its
marketing is supported by USAID [U.S. Agency for Inter-
national Deveoplment] as part of what is called the
Moroccan Social Marketing Program. The condoms are
American made and are supplied free of charge to the
company that packages them locally. As far as we know, this
American technical and financial aid is guaranteed for three
years. After that, the company will have to continue to
operate and sell condoms that it will purchase on the
international market, while keeping prices within the reach
of the poor and middle classes. The brand in question sells
condoms in packages of at least three. Each condom costs
the pharmacy Dh2.33. The other brands sell for between
Dh3.5 to 5.16.

Assuming that the lowest price is maintained over the next
few years, it is, in our opinion, still too high for the smallest
incomes. For a man whose income is very modest, Dh2.33
for each sexual act is too much when a loaf of bread costs
Dhl. So, whatever the cost, we must market lower-priced
condoms to encourage their use among the poor. An obvious
proposal is to eliminate all taxes—customs, VAT [value-
added tax], and other levies—on these extremely useful
products. Condoms are also (and especially these days) used
for family planning, as a radio ad suggests. According to a
recent study sampling 242 condom users, 68 percent are
married and 32 percent single. Socially, 78 percent of them



2 EAST ASIA

Alerted by the rapid increase of AIDS patients in Japan, the
ministry will halve the ministry’s screening period for
approval to two weeks following the council’s endorsement,
the officials said.

Six weeks after the final ministerial endorsement is secured,
AIDS patients and HIV virus carriers can receive the drug
with the benefits of official health insurance coverage, the
Officials said.

DDI was developed by Dr. Hiroaki Michiya and his
research team at the U.S. National Institute of Health.
[Passage omitted]

Domestic clinical tests were conducted on 70 AIDS patients
and HIV carriers with AIDS-Related Complex (ARC) symp-
toms in 24 medical universities and institutions, according
to Bristol-Myers spokesman Tetsuzo Inokawa.

The tests showed that the number of AIDS-containing CD4
cells in HIV carriers underwent an average 40.8 percent
increase after administration of the new drug. The number
of life-threatening HIV viruses showed a 61.1 percent drop
on average, the council said. [Passage omitted]

SOUTH KOREA

AIDS Impact Seminar Warns of Over 500 HIV
ers

SK3004014592 Seoul THE KOREA TIMES in English

30 Apr 92 p 3

[Article by staff reporter No Chun-hun]

[Text] In South Korea, the spread of the deadly AIDS
(acquired immune deficiency syndrome) has reached a
stage where it is transmitted through normal heterosexual
relationships.

And, even though the number of people carrying the HIV
(human immuno-deficiency virus) virus officially stands at
185, the actual figure is believed be well over 500.

These observations and inferences were made by Prof. Yang
Pong- min of Seoul National University during a recent
seminar on the social and economic impact of AIDS orga-
nized by the National Institute of Health.

According to Prof. Yang, for a man in his 30s infected with
the HIV virus, it would cost some 190 million won to
provide medical and other treatment until he succumbs.

“The transmittal of the disease is generally broken down to
four stages and studies have shown that South Korea is
between the second and third stages,” he explained.

The first stage is one where the bringing in of the disease by
foreigners into a certain country and the second the trans-
mission of the virus among homosexuals, bisexuals and drug
addicts who share syringes.

In the third stage, Prof. Yang said, the virus is transmitted
through normal heterosexual relationships. The final stage is
reached when people who engage in liberal sexual activities
become infected.

SIPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Although statistics on the number of homosexuals and
bisexuals in Korea is not available, conservative estimates
based on the figures from Japan indicate that there should at
least be 144 people in these categories who are already
carrying the HIV virus, he elaborated.

Add to this 30 persons who may have become infected
through blood transfusions, 25 in entertainment businesses,
185 known carriers, and 70 Koreans working on long-term
contract abroad, 78 sailors and 21 foreigners who cold be
carriers, the estimate stands at 556.

“Health experts who have been engaging in studying the
pattern of AIDS transmittal are almost certain that the stage
of the disease in Korea is by no means primary. It has begun
to affect normal couples,” Prof. Yang warned.

Aside from the social implications of the increase in the
number of AIDS patients and virus carriers, there are
economic aspects which cannot be overlooked.

In the United states, an average person who acquires AIDS
has the ability to support himself or herself for 16.2 months
since he or she is unable to continue working.

“The result is that the government must somehow find the
means of treating these patients and the total cost can be
astronomical. Our estimates show that a man becoming
infected with the disease would require 190 million won for
medical treatment,” Yang elaborated.

Taking the step one step further, he noted, it could deliver a
devastating blow to a country like Korea where the shortage
of manpower is already a serious problem.

Considering the long-lasting implications of AIDS, the gov-
ernment, particularly the Health-Social Affairs Ministry,
must kick off more effective publicity campaigns to enhance
the awareness of the people to the ultimate dangers of AIDS.

Along with such drives, programs to raise funds for treating
patients and acquire facilities for administering such treat-
ment must be initiated as soon as possible, Prof. Yang said.

LAOS

Columnist Discusses AIDS Problem
92WE0356A Vientiane PASASON in Lao 21 Feb 92 p 3

[For Health” column]

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] The World Health Organiza-
tion estimates that by the year 2000, approximately 30-40
million people worldwide will have AIDS. Of these, approx-
imately 12-18 million will reside in Southeast Asia. The
AIDS epidemic is very alarming in Thailand, which is a
neighbor of ours. It is thought that about 400,000 people in
Thailand have the AIDS virus. In some areas there, 4
percent of the people have AIDS, which is a very high
percentage. The World Health Organization estimates that
within the next eight years, the number of people with the
AIDS virus will increase 10 fold. [passage omitted]

In Laos, during the past two years, seven people with the
AIDS virus have been found. This year, in Vientiane City,



4 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Dr. James McIntyre, chief of the ante-natal AIDS clinic at
Baragwanath Hospital, reports that one in every 50 pregnant
women there is HIV-positive.

“The virus is more prevalent in Johannesburg’s inner city
than in Soweto because its population is less stable,” Pro-
fessor Sonnendecker said.

Even though about two of every three babies born to
HIV-positive women are not infected, doctors are con-
cerned about the numbers of AIDS orphans the country will
have to deal with when parents die of the illness.

In a research study of 100 HIV-positive women at Barag-
wanath, Dr. McIntyre found that women are most often
being infected by their husbands or long-term partners who
have been associating with a number of other women.

Statistical Modelling Suggests 400 Per Day AIDS
Infected

MB2404164592 Johannesburg SAPA in English

1435 GMT 24 Apr 92

[Text] Johannesburg April 24 SAPA—More than 400
people a day are likely to contract the HIV virus in South
Africa this year, according to the Statistical Service, AIDS
Modelling Group [AMG].

AMG convenor Mr. Peter Doyle said this would result in an
additional 160,000 adults infected with the HIV virus by the
end of 1992.

“The frightening prospect is that by 1995, 23,000 adults will
be suffering from full-blown AIDS,” Mr. Doyle said at a
Johannesburg news conference.

Commenting on the results of the second national HIV
survey by the Department of National Health and Popula-
tion Development, Mr. Doyle said the AMG computer-
generated statistical models suggested the. number of HIV-
infected adults had reached 185,000 at the end of last year,
which was similar to the official estimate of between
178,000 to 192,000.

Mr. Doyle, who pointed out that South Africa now had the
best AIDS data in Africa, said apart from the number of
HIV infected cases, the AIDS virus was already leaving
hundreds of children without parents.

The AMG estimated the total number of AIDS orphans this
year at over 2,000. This figure was likely to rise to 22,000
within the next three to four years.

According to the AMG one of the grey areas in researching
the impact of AIDS was that little was known so far of the
HIV infection incubation period until the onset of AIDS
itself.

“Early data suggests that the average incubation period will
be over eight years for South Africans. This is in line with
the experience in the United States,” Mr. Doyle said.

While the number of HIV cases had doubled in 1991, the
AMG said the doubling period would lengthen as a greater
percentage of the population became infected. The doubling
period was expected to extend rapidly until reaching more
than 24 months by 1995.

SPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Mr. Doyle said the South African HIV pandemic was
expected to peak by the year 2010.

KwaZulu Health Minister Says AIDS Becoming
Major Problem

MB2604081792 Johannesburg South African
Broadcasting Corporation Network in English

0600 GMT 26 Apr 92

[Text] The deputy minister of health for KwaZulu, Dr. Lisa
Mthalane, said that AIDS is on the increase, and is
becoming a major problem in KwaZulu. Speaking at the
Natal conference for hospice workers at Howick in the Natal
Midlands, Dr. Mthalane said there were insufficient facili-
ties to cope with the increase in AIDS cases, and, therefore,
home care should be considered as a possible solution to the
problem. Dr. Mthalane also emphasized that traditional
perceptions of death should be taken into consideration in
the treatment of a black patient.

Nine! -~One New Cases of AIDS First Three
[ont

MB2804145092 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1431 GMT 28 Apr 92

[Text] Parliament April 28 SAPA—More AIDS cases had
been reported in Johannesburg over the past ten years than
in any other South African city, according to an AIDS
update document released by the Department of National
Health on Tuesday.

A total of 288 cases had been reported there since the
beginning of 1982, and 143 people died of the disease in the
city over the same period.

In Soweto, reported cases were 138 and deaths 54; in
Durban 196 and 22, and in Cape Town 145 and 81.

The cumulative national total of reported cases was 1,186
with 42 deaths.

The majority of the cases had been reported in males.

The document said 91 new cases of AIDS and 13 deaths had
been reported nationwide in the three months to March 31
this year.

Rate of HIV Infection Said To Be Decreasing
92WE0472A Johannesburg SUNDAY TIMES
in English 3 May 92 p 11

[Article by Cas St Leger: “AIDS: The Doom Doctors
Wrong”)
[Text] The rate of HIV infection in South Africa is slowing

down, in line with international trends and contrary to
predictions of an AIDS doomsday.

The Department of National Health and Population esti-
mates that 200,000 people in SA are HIV-positive.

By the end of the year, the figure is expected to reach
300,000—which is 150,000 less than the 450,000 forecast
for the end of 1991 by Dr. Nicky Padayachee, Johannes-
burg’s senior medical officer of health in 1990.



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

continued under the flag of liberation, and Indians must
think twice before abandoning conventional values for a
spurious emancipation.”

Dr. John does not think that AIDS’ economic impact will
dispel the complacency. “Yes, when people start dying in
hundreds, productivity and consumption will fall, but it will
take a decade of continuous onslaught before it makes a
dent on the economy. The vast number of unemployed will
simply take the place of those dead or too sick to work.”

Yet, Dr. Jacob John sees in the pandemic an elevating
message. “Let us look at AIDS not as a horror story, but an
evolutionary process. A stage at which homo sapiens must
learn to be a more responsible species, heed all the warning
signals, whether they concern degradation of the environ-
ment or the destruction of compassion. Indians have the
intellectual calibre to innovate for survival.” He draws an
analogy from politics: “In crises, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao
keeps his mouth shut, and the whole country is psycholog-
ically tranquillised. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi would have overre-
acted, and the nation would have had a nervous break-
down.”

Wrapping up, the nonviolent researcher into matters viru-
lent leaves behind an unconventional idea: “We are being
given a prophetic message through the retrovirus. We must
treat this creature without a brain with more respect than we
have the messiahs of the past. We must tune in to its wave

length.”

Statewise Distribution

92WE0440B New Delhi INDIAN EXPRESS in English
28 Mar 92 p7

[Text]

A Deadly Spread—Statewise Distribution of AIDS
State/UT No. of AIDS Cases
Maharashtra 54
Delhi 15
Tamil Nadu 9
Punjab 8
Manipur 4
Pondicherry 3
Goa 2

2
1
1
1
i
1
1
1

Kerala

Jammu & Kashmir
Haryana

Uttar Pradesh
Rajasthan

Gujarat

Andhra Pradesh
West Bengal
TOTAL 104
Source: 1 E Databank

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 2

AIDS in Navy
92WE0440C Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH in English
30 Mar 92 p 4

[Text] Bombay, March 29: Twenty-three sailors in the
Indian Navy have tested positive for the Human Immuno-
deficiency Virus (in 1991), though in 1990 not a single case
was reported, a senior naval officer has said.

Surgeon Commodore Ranjit Das, the director of medical
services in the Navy, who is in Bombay to attend the first
national conference on AIDS, said 23 cases were detected
from tests conducted only on patient belonging to high risk
group.

Explaining the steps taken by the Navy to check the spread
of AIDS, surgeon Commodore Das said condoms are being
circulated and video films shown to create awareness on
how the virus is transmitted. Compulsory blood screening
for all donors and the use of disposable syringes in naval
hospitals had increased confidence and helped dispel the
fear of the disease, he added.

Help From World Bank ,

92WE0440D Seema Sirohi; Calcutta THE
TELEGRAPH in English 3 Apr 92 p 1

[Article by Seema Sirohi: “India To Get $84m To Fight
AIDS; Largest Amount Sanctioned to Any Country”]

[Text] Washington, April 2: The AIDS epidemic has not yet
hit India. But the growing rate of infection has made the
Indian government and the World Bank sit up and take
notice and combat the disease before it spins out of control.

The World Bank has announced a loan for $84 million for
India to start a massive AIDS prevention and control
Programme that is expected to save 300,000 people from
contracting the disease by the year 2000. It is the largest loan.
approved to fight the disease anywhere in the world.

The World Bank has made a policy decision to treat human
resource development as a priority area in order to encourage
sustainable development, said Mr. Heinz Vergin, the director
of the India division at the Bank. The AIDS epidemic, which
has already affected large populations in Africa, is considered
a major hurdle in the path of development.

India being the world’s second most populous country could
be fertile ground for the spread of the killer disease. An
estimated 500,000 Indians are already infected with the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes
AIDS. If the current infection rates were to continue, five
million people could be HIV-positive by the year 2000,
according to the World Health Organisation and other
groups monitoring the disease.

Mr. Vergin praised the Indian government’s awareness and
willingness to fight the disease at an early stage. “The
government has a sense of urgency and there is a first class
team working on this. The Prime Minister has gone public
on this problem. This is not found in many countries,” he
said. Bank officials later effusively praised the health secre-
tary, Mr. R.L. Mishra, and his deft management skills in



24 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

The next step was for the al-Jizah Security Administration to
turn the American accused of corrupting minors over to the
Passport Investigations Department, which in turn deported
him after setting his bail at 100 Egyptian pounds. Then
another problem appeared. His English girlfriend, who had
been living with him in the apartment, disappeared.

AIDS Ward at al-’Abbasiyah Hospital

Egypt’s AIDS patients are received at the Fever Hospital in

- Abbasiyah, where they are divided into two groups. The
first group is foreigners who are detained until they can be
immediately deported to their countries if their infection
with the illness is confirmed.

The second group is Egyptians who are carriers of the virus,
numbering over 40 patients. No one detains them, however,
at the hospital. All of them live in their own residences, only
visiting the hospital when they want to follow up on their
cases. The hospital received “Amal,” a woman with AIDS,
and delivered her child there. There was another case of a
woman with AIDS, Fatimah, who gave birth to a son,
Mahmud. A professor of obstetrics and surgery volunteered
to deliver her after she had suffered five hours of labor
pains. A state of emergency was declared out of fear for the
spectre of AIDS inside this woman, who was employed by
the public sector. The hospital administration, however,
refused to provide any patient names or any information
about them.

AIDS research has been conducted at the Hematology and
Clinical Immunology Section of the Faculty of Medicine at
al-Azhar University since 1981, carried out by a group of
physicians under the supervision of Dr. Nawal ’Afifi. They
are in contact with a number of medical centers and
associations in France and the United States. The Clinical
Immunology Unit has an integrated team, most of whom
have traveled abroad on 6-month AIDS training missions.

A female doctor received her doctorate on AIDS under Dr.
Nawal ’Afifi’s supervision. In addition to the modern equip-
ment that assists all AIDS-related research, there are a
number of cases that have been referred by private clinics.
These people have come to the Clinical Immunology Unit
voluntarily to determine that they do not have the disease.
They had been suffering from immune system disorders,
either due to hemophilia or leukemia. All of the samples
that were taken from them were negative.

Health experts believe that informing the populace is the
first step in preventing spread of the AIDS virus. No patient
should receive blood unless it has been analyzed, nor should
anyone be allowed to share his syringe.

The Ministry of Health is likewise committed to its minis-
ter’s decree banning the importation of blood or blood
products from abroad unless it has been tested for AIDS and
infectious hepatitis, and affirming the need to use dispos-
able plastic syringes. Samples brought to the central labora-
tories of the Ministry of Health are also tested. One near-
positive case has been confirmed there. It was sent to the
American research unit at NAMRU 3 [U.S. Naval Medical
Research Unit 3]. This sample belonged to an Egyptian
patient who worked as an attorney in Dubayy. He was

IPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

infected with the AIDS virus there via a blood transfusion
given while he was undergoing surgery. Despite the metic-
ulous testing of blood samples collected by the Ministry of
Health, it still makes use of NAMRU 3 to confirm its results
from the central laboratories.

There is a joint project between Egypt’s Ministry of Health
and NAMRU 3 to determine whether there are any AIDS
cases in Egypt among people considered most susceptible to
the disease. Two types of tests are conducted. The first test
is called ELISA, a very sensitive and precise test that can
identify near-positive cases that, in fact, are negative. A
confirmatory test of these samples known as the “Blue
Stret” Blot [as published, presumably Western Blot test] is
conducted at NAMRU 3. This test is more accurate in
diagnosing the samples and confirming that these cases are
negative. [passage omitted]

AIDS Disease

[Passage omitted] Immunity is the struggle of the body
against infection, or a group of actual responses manifested
by the body against an external infection. This is caused by
activating the immune B-type lymphocytes against the
infection, and creating and dispatching antibodies from the
immune B-type lymphocytes at rates equal to T-type lym-
phocytes so that they can get rid of the attacking virus, the
“antigen,” by destroying and consuming it with antibodies
known as aminoglobulins.

This delicate operation is organized and led by the immune
system. If the system is able to protect and defend the body,
the patient recovers completely and returns to health. If it is
unable to carry out this role, the disease worsens, grows, and
leads to certain death. Immunity comes about through the
skin’s external protection of the body, the destruction and
consumption of the virus and its poisons by the white blood
corpuscles and other tissue cells, breakdown and destruction
of the attacking virus by gastric acid and the digestive
enzyme known as the polysaccharide “lysozyme enzyme,”
and chemical substances in the blood that attach themselves
to these microbes and their poisons and do away with them,
such as the “lysozyme enzyme.”

Immune System Components

The immune system responsible for protecting the body
against the danger of AIDS is made up of a protective
network of external secretions by cells that recognize
microbes such as the AIDS virus and a substance known as
A.R.C. [AIDS-related complex] antigens. These cells recog-
nize the antigens attacking a person’s body and send out
warning signals to all the body’s other immune cells lying in
a state of rest or inactivity. They are immunologically
active, however, and ready to destroy and do away with this
dangerous virus should it attack the body. [The immune
system includes] the macrophage cells [phagocytes?], and
the skin that lines and protects the gastrointestinal system,
the respiratory system, and the circulatory system. Its secre-
tions exit along with perspiration to kill the infection, be it
viral or bacterial. The white blood corpuscles are part of the
immune process. They include the lymphocytes that depend



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

ANGOLA

More Than 400 Cases of AIDS Reported

92WE0383A Luanda JORNAL DE ANGOLA
in Portuguese 6 Mar 92 p 3

[Article by Sebastiao Quinza]

[Excerpts] To date, 421 cases of AIDS have been diagnosed
in Angola, with the highest rate in the provinces in the
northern part of the country, according to a statement made
yesterday by Dr. Sinquia, the WHO representative in
Angola,

This WHO official mentioned the provinces of Cabinda,
Uige, Malange, Zaire, and Luanda Norte as the ones most
affected by the AIDS virus.

She also stated that 75 percent of the cases in Angola were
sexually transmitted. Women in our country are being
infected at a younger age than men. Infected women range
from 15 to 39 years of age while infected men range from 20
to 50 years of age.

Recent statistics cite the fact that 15 percent of those
suffering from AIDS in the nation’s hospitals have tubercu-
losis, and, in spite of this, there are still a lot of undiagnosed
cases due to the shortage of laboratories equipped to con-
duct AIDS tests. The symptoms caused by the disease are
generally flu, fever, chronic diarrhea, tuberculosis and
weight loss, and a persistent cough and sores in the mouth.
The disease’s incubation period normally depends on the
means of transmission. When contact is made through the
blood supply, the quantity of the virus is very high, espe-
cially when there is no rigorous monitoring of the blood
supply.

To minimize the chances of contracting the disease, Dr.
Sinquia advises using condoms, which can be acquired at
pharmacies or neighborhood health centers. [Passage
omitted]

All over the world, many scientists are working on discov-
ering a vaccine, and in this field, some progress has been
made, but even so, the WHO representative calls for taking
precautions and using condoms, because, according to her,
there are no medicines to combat the disease.

The Program to Fight Against AIDS, represented yesterday
by Dr. Sinquia and Nurse Jorge, has the support of several
organizations connected with the matter and also has the
support of the people.

This program will soon promote educational campaigns for

pregnant women in Luanda and some of the country’s other
provinces and is also planning to set up a system to monitor
blood and train personnel in the prevention of the disease.

Currently, 43 cases have been diagnosed in Cabinda, 48 in
Zaire, 46 in Uige, 53 in Luanda, and 3 in Cuanza Sul.

According to what that specialist said, there is no province
in the country that has not been affected by AIDS, although
some are reporting more cases than others.

The first worldwide discovery of AIDS was in 1979, with the
United States being the country with the highest rate of

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1

infection. It is suspected that the disease already existed
prior to its discovery by two scientists (a Frenchman and an
American.) Africa has 39 percent of all AIDS cases, with
Zaire, Zambia, and Tanzania having the largest numbers of
patients.

BOTSWANA

Estimates of 40,000 Believed To Be HIV Positive

92WE0402B Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS
in English 21 Feb 92 p 1

[Article by Olekanye Paul]

[Excerpt] At least 40,000 people are believed to be HIV
positive in Botswana and the infection is spreading rapidly.

This was said by the Ghanzi District Officer, Mr. Mothibi
Monyakeng, during the Ghanzi AIDS Day over the
weekend,

Mr. Monyake said the 40,000 figure could be an under-
estimation because “the spread of the disease is increasing
at an alarming rate.”

Mr. Monyakeng said in the Ghanzi District nine cases of
AIDS had been reported. He added that about 3.5 percent of
the Ghanzi population could be infected with the AIDS
virus.

He urged people, even the reluctant ones, to take precau-
tions against this hazardous disease. He added that the most
vulnerable group was between 15 and 45 years because they
were sexually active. [Passage omitted]

AIDS Official on Spread of AIDS; 35,000 Infected

MB2405 185492 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1826 GMT 24 May 92

[Text] Gaborone May 24 SAPA—A Botswana AIDS expert
has claimed that 35,000 people in Botswana have now been
infected with the human immuno deficiency virus (HIV).

Addressing the Zimbabwe Botswana Friendship Associa-
tion on Friday, Dr. Matshediso Moeti, who heads the
Botswana National AIDS Control Programme, said there
were now 277 officially registered AIDS cases in Botswana.

“Unofficially more than 2,400 cases are a more accurate
figure,” she said.

Dr. Moeti said there was a significant amount of underre-
porting and the spread of HIV was increasing.

“The most vulnerable group is adolescent women,” she said.

According to Dr. Moeti, factors influencing the spread in
HIV in Botswana included a young population with a large
number in the reproductive group, a prevalent early sexual
behaviour pattern, a highly mobile population, and promis-
cuity among both males and females.

The fact that Botswana was a highway from South Africa to
the rest of Africa also influenced the spread of HIV in
Botswana, she said.



JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992 5 AIDS

AIDS-Infected Blood Donor Discovered in Vilnius [Moscow BALTFAX, 2 May 92] ...
Company Offers Insurance Against AIDS Svetlana Kalashnikova; Moscow ITAR-TASS, 10 May 92]
AIDS Prevention Center Established /ITAR-TASS; Moscow ITAR-TASS, 14 May 92]
Moscow University Claims AIDS Virus Dormant in Every Person
[Moscow ITAR-TASS World Service, 27 May 92] .....
WEST EUROPE
DENMARK
Hospital Chief Physician on AIDS Testing
[ens Thomsen; Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 23 Mar 92] ..
National AIDS Statistics, Trends Reported [Nuuk GRONLANDSPOSTEN, 8 May 92]
FINLAND

HIV-Positive Foreigner Accused of Endangering Others
[Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 25 Apr 92]

FRANCE

New Measures To Improve Struggle Against AIDS [Paris LE MONDE, 24 Apr 92]
GREECE ,

Latest AIDS Statistics Published Athens ELEVTHEROTYPIA, 15 Apr 92 ..
IRELAND

Health Officials Give AIDS Statistics 39
Health Minister’s Figures /Dubli 4 39
Coordinator’s Statement /Clodagh Sheehy; Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT. 40

SWEDEN

Court-Ordered Quarantining of HIV Carriers

[Kerstin Hellbom; Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 1 Apr 92]
HIV Increases Among Homosexuals, Immigrants

[Kerstin Hellbom; Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 3 Apr 92]
Separate Daycare Centers for Children With HIV

[Lasse Granestrand; Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 30 Apr 92] .u.. ese
AIDS, HIV Case Statistics Analyzed [Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER, 3 May 92)

. 41
~ 42



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

six people have been found with the AIDS virus. Of these,
three are former refugees who returned from Thailand. The
other three are prostitutes.

There is still no drug to prevent or cure AIDS. The best way
to fight this disease is to use public health measures. But
people have tended to ignore such measures. Preventing
AIDS is a task for the entire family, not just individuals.
This is an international problem; it is not a problem that is
limited to just individual countries.

In the face of this frightening situation, every country
should make AIDS prevention in neighboring countries an
important part of their own national plan. In Laos, public
and private organizations, communities, and various groups
must work together closely to deal with this great danger.
[passage omitted]

MALAYSIA

Health Ministry on Automated Testing Unit

BK1601120492 Kuala Lumpur NEW STRAITS TIMES
in English 15 Jan 92 p 10

[Excerpt] Kuala Lumpur, Tues—[Passage omitted] Health
Minister Datuk Lee Kim Sai was speaking to reporters after
receiving a $60,000 automated multidrug testing unit for
the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) from the chairman
of Esso companies in Malaysia, Datuk C.D. Roxburgh.

Datuk Lee said the mechine would help IMR in conducting
test on drug addiction and it could also determine if the
addict was taking more than one type of drug.

IMR director Dr. M. Jegathesan said the institute conducted.
between 2,500 and 3,000 test on AIDS last year and the
percentage of cases that had been confimed as positive were
high.

“In the last few months IMR had tested some 300 positive
cases. The cases sent here are for confirmation from our
screening centres found in general hospitals and private
hospitals all over the country.

“The confirmation test called the ‘western blot’ is the
confirmatory test and it cost $120 per test. So far the
Government has been absorbing the cost if the case tested
were from Government hospitals,” he said.

Dr. Jegathesan said the confirmatory test conducted was
adopted by IMR in 1987 and the diagnostic kit, to deter-
mine if a case is positive or negative, is still developing as
AIDS testing is something new.

NEW ZEALAND

Medical Study—Rate of Increase of AIDS
Slowing

BK1205101292 Hong Kong AFP in English 0631 GMT
12 May 92

[Text] Wellington, May 12 (AFP)—The incidence of
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in New
Zealand is increasing at a slow rate, a medical study released
Tuesday said.

EAST ASIA 13

The Otago University Medical School study said that in
1991 there were 78 new cases of AIDS in New Zealand,
compared with 73 in 1990, 60 in 1989 and 38 in 1988.

Since 1984, when records were first kept, 323 people have
contracted the deadly disease in New Zealand. Of these, 232
have died.

In a quarterly report, the university’s AIDS epidemiology
group said a similar levelling off has been documented in
other countries.

Reasons for this included saturation level of the Human
Immuno- Deficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS among
high risk behavior groups, movement of the epidemic into
groups with less risky behavior and changes in behavior that
have reduced the spread of HIV.

Other reasons listed include treatment that delays HIV
infection progressing to AIDS and an increase in under-
reporting or under- diagnosis.

Figures from the United States showed the rate of HIV
infection due to homosexual transmission peaked in 1984
and infection due to sharing drug injecting equipment
peaked in 1985,

“There is evidence that in the U.S., changes in behavior
have resulted in a reduction of spread of HIV among
homosexual men,” group spokesman Nigel Dickson said in
an interview.

The group most likely to contract AIDS was still homo-
sexual males who had unprotected sex with other homo-
sexual males, the report said.

THAILAND

Bangkok AIDS Rate, Condom Use
92WE0352F Bangkok MATICHON in Thai 18 Feb 92
p2

[Text] Dr. Khachit Chupanya, the director of the Health
Department, Bangkok, said that nationwide, there are now
about 300-400,000 people with the AIDS virus. Thirty
percent of these live in Bangkok. Thirty percent of these
contracted the disease from engaging in heterosexual sexual
relations, which is up from 10 percent. In the past, 80
percent contracted the disease from dirty needles. But
today, this figure has dropped to 40 percent. Besides this, a
survey conducted by the Health Department found that
nationwide, the number of people with the AIDS virus is
increasing at a rate of 400 a day. Chiang Mai and Chiang
Rai provinces in the north have the highest incidence.

Dr. Khachit said that in order to control the spread of AIDS,
Bangkok, where the rate of use of condoms is only 50
percent, will coordinate things with the Police Department
in monitoring the “100-percent Condom Use” program in
Phitsanulok Province and use this as a model in promoting
the use of condoms in all types of places of entertainment in
Bangkok.



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

MOZAMBIQUE

Red Cross Official on AIDS Training Program

MB2305191292 Maputo Radio Mozambique Network
in Portuguese 1730 GMT 23 May 92

[Interview with Adelino Mariquel, Mozambique Red Cross
national coordinator for the fight against AIDS, by uniden-
tified Radio Mozambique reporter in Maputo on 23 May—
recorded; first two paragraphs studio introduction]

[Excerpts] AIDS is a plague. The third seminar for provin-
cial officers involved in the fight against AIDS opened in
Maputo on 19 May and closed today. [passage omitted]

Adelino Mariquel, the Mozambique Red Cross national
coordinator for the fight against AIDS, disclosed that the
seminar had the following aims:

Mariquel: As many people are aware, we organized this
seminar. In 1990, we signed accords with the Health Min-
istry concerning our participation in the National AIDS
Combat Program. We began by training personnel in all of
the country’s provinces. We trained 11 people, one per
province. It is necessary to try and provide refresher courses
to those provincial officers because the AIDS problem is
becoming increasingly complicated in our country. As you
know, the country has now reported some 448 AIDS cases to
the World Health Organization. [passage omitted]

NIGERIA

AIDS Cases May Total 2 Million by 1993
92WE0459A Lagos THE GUARDIAN in English
1 Apr 92 p 32

{Article by Onajome Orere]

{Text] If projections by medical experts prove true, Nigeria
will, by next year, have no fewer than two million cases of
the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Vice
President Augustus Aikhomu has said. He said in an address
sent to the Second All-Nigeria Conference on AIDS orga-
nised by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) at
Gateway Hotel, Ota, Ogun State, yesterday, that as of 31
January, there were 1,933 confirmed cases of AIDS from
about 199,663 blood samples screened.

About 105 of these have developed the full blown AIDS.

He based his projection in the speech read by Dr. Shima
Gyoh, director- general in the Ministry of Health and
Human Services, on the calculation that between 25 March
1991 and January this year, the rate of seroprevalence
doubled from about 0.4 percent to 0.97 percent.

Ifnothing is done, it would rise to 1.8 percent or two million
cases next year.

“Simply put, an epidemic is imminent unless we all resolve
to change our behavioural patterns,” Admiral Aikhomu
said, adding that this is quite possible since the main mode
of transmission in our part of the world is mainly hetero-
sexual.“

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 3

Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti also said the sub-Saharan
Africa, would, by the year 2000, have 14 million AIDS
carriers. Over five million of them will die, while nearly four
million babies born in this period will have the virus.

Professor Ransome-Kuti said without a vaccine or cure,
“education remains the main weapon against the disease.”

But he feared stigmatisation of persons affected, reluctance to
talk about sexuality, taboos, denial of the magnitude of the
problem even amongst medical and health personnel, inade-
quate nationwide resources and efforts, were obstacles to
using this approach to fight the disease political stability.“

About 105 have developed the full blown AIDS.
SOUTH AFRICA

Rate of HIV Infected Women Noted

92WE0414A Johannesburg SUNDAY TIMES
in English 5 Apr 92 p 5

[Article by Heather Robertson: “Shock Rate of HIV in
Women”]

[Text] One in 80 pregnant women in South Africa has the
HIV infection, says the AIDS unit of the Department of
Health and Population Development.

This is more than twice the number since the unit’s last
survey in 1990.

The latest statistics were “conservative”, said the unit’s Dr.
Wilson Castle.

Thirty to 40 percent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers
are likely to be infected.

Legal

Mothers who do not pass on the virus are usually those with
a high concentration of the antibodies needed to protect the
foetus from infection, said Mr. Daya Moodley, a research
scientist at the University of Natal.

Figures show that one in every 240 babies born in the
country is likely to develop AIDS.

A woman may have a legal abortion if diagnosed as HIV-
positive in the first 12 weeks of her pregnancy, but most
discover their predicament too late.

“Few women who attend clinics or who deliver in hospitals
are tested for HIV,” Dr. Castle said. AIDS is not a notifiable
disease in South Africa and women must request a test
unless they are subject to random research.

Johannesburg's overcrowded inner city has been identified
as the worst affected area in the country. The number of
women found to be infected at the Johannesburg Hospital is
one in 20.

In December 1991 one in 78 pregnant women was found to
be HIV-positive. This had increased by March to one in 38.

“The increase is shattering,” said Professor Ernst Sonnen-
decker, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynae-
cology at the University of the Witwatersrand.



JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Now, at the Ismael Triana Torres Sanitarium, in Matanzas,
they enjoy sitting in the living room of their apartment and
chatting about the future, with no witnesses other than the
photos of their children by other marriages. “We must do
something,” they say. “All of our hopes, like those of many
patients, are centered on a miraculous vaccine or medicine.
We are infected, but death is going to have to fight very hard
to take us away. We have a lot to live for...”

The sanitarium, inaugurated almost eight months ago, rises
above the Matanzas heights, near a locality known as
Quintanales, with no dividing fences or massive adobe walls
to give the site the feeling of a remote place of sadness or
captivity.

Twenty-three patients, with an average age of 32.5 years,
walk about and converse in the parks and the street corners
of this mini-city. Some prefer to watch television, listen to
music, play dominoes, or work at handicrafts. Others spend
their time changing the water in the gold fishponds or
helping to cultivate medicinal plants for combatting the
opportunistic diseases that usually appear when the body
presents immunological problems.

They want no cameras about, nor do they want their real
names known, but they are willing to tell their stories. They
feel that their families have already suffered enough, and
they themselves have already felt the pain of rejection or the
loss of some friends, the insistent looks and whispers in the
squares when they go for a stroll, and even some disparaging
remarks. But as Jose Luis told me, without histrionics:
“Learning to live with AIDS is much more difficult, and we
do it; the rest we must learn to forget about. I ask myself why
this is happening, whether, in the end, dying of this illness
must be no different from dying of any other disease.
Besides, it is not exclusively an illness of ‘different people’;
it is a possibility that makes no exceptions of anyone.

Not the End of the World

To Dr. Guillermo de la Portilla, director of the institution,
more important than knowing that a patient with this
syndrome receives treatment worth 16,000 to 18,000 pesos
ayear, is knowing that this ailment attacks mainly the young
and economically productive sectors with high-risk sexual
practices. “Hence the need to be well-informed about HIV,
its transmission, its consequences, and the importance of
early detection,” he says.

If we aspire to halting its spread, it is of the utmost urgency
that the community undertake a commitment to its preven-
tion and control; the work of doctors, immunologists, psy-
chologists, epidemiologists, and health personnel, alone,
will not suffice to win the preventive battle.

At present, it is known to be transmitted solely by unpro-
tected sexual contact with asymptomatic patients or car-
tiers, by receipt of infected blood, or transplacentally from
an infected mother.

Upon inquiring about the characteristics of the personnel
working at the facility, we learned that, in response to a
notice that had been published in the province, 235 health
professionals had applied; only 31 were needed. The per-
sonnel were chosen for their human qualities, family status,

LATIN AMERICA 19

and experience in the sector. The director stressed the
importance of this selection process in ensuring that those
working there would be only those who wished do so.
Perhaps this is why inside the institution they do not even
wear white coats. They want nothing that will differentiate
them from the patients and make communication difficult.

Studies have indicated that, in our country, a person who has
been classified as an asymptomatic carrier may remain so for
up to some 13 years before becoming ill. For some, this
period is shorter, and for others it is longer. This is related to
their sexual behavior, how strictly they follow medical treat-
ment, and the body’s defenses and specificities.

Social worker Mayra Hernandez Amador informs me that
the majority of patients submit to the sanitarium’s regimen
because of the benefits they receive from it. “Here, they
have our understanding and moral support. They receive
care and systematic checkups, both medical and psycholog-
ical, and a fortified diet. This helps them to better their
quality of life while they hope for the discovery of a cure for
their illness,” she says.

The sanitarium has 17 double-occupancy cabins; five of
them are for married couples. They all have the comforts
designed to make life easier for their occupants. There are
also workshops and sewing shops, stomatology dispensaries
and surgical facilities, barbers and hairdressers, sports areas,
medical offices, and television rooms. Many of these facil-
ities provide job opportunities for the patients themselves.

Respect For Individuality

“After a female patient gave my name among her contacts
and my tests were also positive, I began to take AIDS
seriously. I had heard it talked about, but I always thought it
would never happen to me. But I believe that I understood
this too late. I lived in Havana for a year at a friend’s home in
Guira de Melena, and I had more than 15 relationships,
without using condoms. It was quite a reckless time.... When
lentered the sanitarium I did not want my family to know, so
as not to cause them more grief; but my friends spoke with my
mother. Since then, I have received all their support. It is not
easy, at 20 years of age, to deal with knowing that you are
condemned to death and seeing yourself restricted from
having fun, from going out, and from loving.

“Tn spite of this, I keep my spirits up. Each time I get up in the
morning, I think it is a new day to be alive. I take a capsule of
AZT [azidothymidine] daily, and I receive two interferon
injections weekly. So far my health is good, and I have not
even had a cold. Although I understand that the nightmare is
about to begin...”

Carlos Alberto almost whispered these words. He is one of
the youngest patients, and he is presently doing everything
possible to obtain a pass from the Integral Orientation and
Evaluation Commission that would permit him to circulate
beyond the limits of the sanitarium unaccompanied (with-
out a guarantor). This would mean that he is deemed to have
enough responsibility to protect his health and that of the
healthy population.



JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 JUNE 1992

Foreicn
Broapcast
INFORMATION
Service

PRS Report—

Epidemiology

AIDS

| BEDOTOW Semana

\ Approved to
| " public
Distributes, Tamales

; REPRODUCED BY :

"U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

| NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE DTIC QUALITY INSPECTED 6
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a WEST EUROPE

Should not all parents be informed about such a placement?
“This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis,” said Lennart
Rydberg. “I can assure you that the placements will be made
in a safe manner.”

What will happen when the children start school? “We will
not have any special HIV classes,” Rydberg said.

According to Margareta Nuder, the head of child care in
Stockholm, only older HIV-positive children can be consid-
ered for regular playschool groups. Younger children are
much more prone to infection and need to be put in their
‘own small group. According to Nuder, most parents of
HIV-positive children have also preferred the special day-
care center.

AIDS, HIV Case Statistics Analyzed

92WE0453A Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 3 May 92 p 5

[Text] Eighty-seven new cases of HIV infection in Sweden
were reported in the first quarter of this year. Of these, 34
had been infected through homosexual and 49 through
heterosexual intercourse. Of the latter group, 12 were of
Swedish origin and eight of these were presumably infected
abroad.

According to EPID-AKTUELLT, the newsletter of the
National Bacteriological Laboratory, SBL, a total of 3,055
cases of HIV infection has been reported in Sweden since
the disease became known in the mid-1980’s. Of these, 668
have developed AIDS.

Of the HIV cases, 2,456 are men and 599 women. 1,441
men and no women had gotten the disease through homo-
sexual activity. For heterosexuals, the figures are 410 men
and 366 women. In a total of 606 of the cases, the infection
had been transmitted when drug users used one another’s
syringes. Ninety-one were infected with infected blood in
connection with blood transfusions.

JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Infection through a blood transfusion no longer occurs.
“Syringe transmission” is also declining—during the first
three months of this year, two such HIV cases were
reported. Of those Swedes who are now getting infected, the
overwhelming number are homosexual men.

Infected Abroad

Of the first quarter’s 34 new cases of HIV-infected homo-
sexual men, 25 were of Swedish origin. Of the 49 heterosex-
uals (28 men and 21 women), 12 were Swedes. Of these 12,
eight may have been infected abroad, whereas four are
believed to have been infected in Sweden.

The other, foreign, heterosexuals infected got the disease
before they arrived in Sweden.

The report again demonstrates that within Sweden there are
few people who are infected by Swedes through heterosexual
contact. Among heterosexually-infected girls under 20 years
old, for example, two-thirds were infected by Africans and
the rest by South Europeans.

Infection from a foreigner also predominates among older
youths in this group, according to EPID-AKTUELLT. This
was true in 60 percent of the cases. Close to one-fourth had
been infected by drug users.

Risk Factor

According to Professor Margareta Bottiger of the SBL,
authorities estimate there is quite a delay before a person
gets tested for HIV if she or he does not know of any tisk
factor in their partner.

These unknown cases of infection are first detected when
they get sick, become pregnant, donate blood, or in contact
tracing when another HIV case is discovered. That can take
upwards of five to ten years.

“So our statistics must always be assessed with various
provisos,” Bottiger added.


Closing the course, the DA, Mr. John Butime, expressed
great concern about the rate of deaths caused by AIDS. He
was also alarmed by the figure of 1.5 million HIV Positive
Ugandans.

The DA said AIDS was a major health problem in the
district. He noted that the recent sero-survey among women
attending ante-natal clinic, shows a rate of about 23 percent
in Fort-Portal Municipality and about 3 percent in the rural
areas. He also observed an increase in AIDS patients in
health units.

[Passage omitted]

AIDS Commission Head Opens Seminar

EA2205094592 Kampala Radio Uganda Network
in English 1900 GMT 20 May 92

[Excerpt] The director general of the Uganda AIDS Com-
mission, Mr. Steven Lwanga, has said that at least 66,000
people will die of AIDS in Uganda this year alone. Mr.
Lwanga disclosed this today while opening a three-day
seminar on multisectoral approach strategy to combat AIDS.
at the Cardinal Nsubuga Leadership Training Center,
(Nsambya), near Kampala. He said statistics available show
that 230,000 people have [the] HIV infection, and out of
this it is expected that 70,000 children below the age of 15
years will be orphaned after their parents have died of
AIDS. He said another 18,000 children under five will also
be orphaned after their parents have perished from AIDS.
[passage omitted]

ZAIRE

Largest AIDS Center Risks Closing

92WE0394A Algiers LE SOIR D’ALGERIE in French
Mar 92 p7

{Text] Political and social instability in Zaire threatens to
cause the closure of the AIDS project in Kinshasa, the
principal AIDS research center in Africa.

According to Dr. Manzila Tarande, deputy director of the
center, this center has no more than 5,000 condoms and has
No test kits to detect the disease. Also lacking is equipment
necessary to analyze tests to detect other, sexually trans-
mitted diseases that can facilitate infection with AIDS.

Dr. Tarande said: “In fact, the AIDS project is about to
close down” by July 1992 at the latest. He added: “This will
be a very great loss.” Researchers from several foreign
countries have closely watched the results obtained at this
center.

The center is financed in part by the Center for Disease
Control (CDC, the organization charged with watching over
diseases in the United States). However, the Americans
have announced that their aid would end on 30 September
1992, particularly due to the fact that Zaire is not in a
Position to ensure the security of the foreign nationals who
oversee the work.

Dr. Tarande explained that the AIDS project has not
succeeded in following, as intended, about 2,000 women
and children infected with the disease, because it can no

JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

longer provide them with medicine and no longer has
transportation facilities making it possible to bring them to
the center or to visit them at home.

Furthermore, when they are deprived in the near future of
the condoms previously provided free of charge by the
center, the prostitutes of Kinshasa will have to purchase
them. As there is no doubt that they will not purchase the
condoms, the disease threatens to expand still further, when
it already affects between 5 and 7 percent of the women in
Kinshasa.

In the view of Dr. Tombe Diabeno, chief of surgery at
Mama Yemo Hospital, the largest in Kinshasa, only sick
persons with enough money to buy surgical gloves or alcohol
for their doctors can be treated in the future. He stated, “If
they have no money, they will die.”

ZIMBABWE

High AIDS Incidence Among Children

92WE0434A Harare THE HERALD in English
19 Mar 92 p8&

[Excerpt] Mberengwa—About 30 percent of full-blown
AIDS cases in the Mberengwa district of the Midlands is in
children under the age of four years, according to local
health authorities.

Acting District Medical Officer Dr. Wilbert Spaans said that
last year there were 127 cases of full-blown AIDS in the
district while 407 people were diagnosed HIV positive.

“There has been a sharp increase in the number of AIDS
cases in the district and an acute one in the one-year-olds,”
he said.

About 60 percent of the HIV positive cases was in the 15 to
30 years age group. Most of these were women, mainly
single, he said, adding that “single woman were at high
risk.”

In the last three years, 1,200 people were diagnosed HIV
positive in the district. [Passage omitted]

Government Reportedly Announces ‘1 Million’
HIV Positive

MB0804060092 London BBC World Service in English
0430 GMT 7 Apr 92

[Report from Harare correspondent Sarah Samson on the
“Network Africa” program—first paragraph is studio intro-
duction}

[Text] Well, today, if you didn’t know, is world health day.
This year it sees a global campaign to highlight the need to
look after your heart. Well, it is also a time to look, not just
at special campaigns but also the daily work of hospitals and
there, in places like the main hospital in Harare, in Zim-
babwe, problems like heart disease are often over shadowed:
The big problem is AIDS, as Sarah Samson reports:

[Begin Samson recording] The admission ward for Harare
Central Hospital groans under the number of the people
needing treatment. They lie on stretchers with glazed eyes.
Out of the 50 patients in the rooms, 20 are HIV positive. In



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Saturation

AIDS experts attribute the dramatic drop to the fact that
infection in high risk groups—homosexuals, drug abusers
and promiscuous people—is reaching saturation point.

Low risk groups—people in monogamous relationships or
who practise safe sex—will take longer to become infected.

The time it takes for the number of cases to double has
increased from six months in 1987 to 14 months at present.
By 1995, the doubling time will be more than 24 months.

Dr. Padayachee’s prediction, made in 1990, was based on an
eight-and-a-half-month doubling time.

He was not available for comment this weekend on the new
statistics.

Dr. Wilson Carswell, medical adviser to the Department of
National Health and Population’s AIDS Unit, said the
reason for the lengthened doubling time was biological.

“HIV is overwhelmingly spread by sexual intercourse. The
first people in a community to be infected are usually those
with the greatest number of sexual partners. There is a rapid
spread within this group.

“As individuals or groups who have fewer partners become
infected, the rate of infection slows.”

Most recent figures for South Africa show that there are
1,186 patients with clinical AIDS, of whom 424 have died.

New infections are currently estimated at 400 a day, which
will result in approximately 750,000 HIV infections by
1994,

This is a far cry from the U.S.-based Population Research
Institute’s predicted 12.8-million HIV-positive people in
South Africa by 1995.

Research abroad shows a slowing trend similar to that in
South Africa, with the World Health Organisation reporting
120,000 AIDS cases during the past eight years and six
million HIV-positive Africans.

Army

Scientists in the U.S. and Europe are now revising their
original estimates.

Dr. Peter Duesberg of the University of California, Ber-
keley, says that in the seven years since HIV testing became
available, the official estimate of the number of Americans
carrying the virus has remained constant at about one
million.

Screening of male and female U.S. Army recruits has shown
a constant proportion of 0.03 percent HIV-positive.

A theory put forward by dissident scientists abroad—that
HIV infection does not automatically lead to AIDS—is
being treated with caution by South African experts.

Dr. Malcolm Steinberg, of the SA Medical Research
Council, said it was “a very dangerous hypothesis.”

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 5

Transkei Bans Release of AIDS Information to
Media

MB2305151992 Umtata Capital Radio in English
1500 GMT 23 May 92

[Text] The Transkei Health Department has banned the
release of information to the media about AIDS cases in the
territory. The department’s chief director has confirmed the
ban, saying the health minister complained that journalists
distorted information given to them.

The department’s chief control educator, who freely gave
the information in the past, is now also refusing to part with
AIDS- related information, as a result of the instruction.

SWAZILAND

Estimate of 15,000 With HIV

MB2604183292 Mbabane TIMES OF SWAZILAND
in English 24 Apr 92 p 1

{Editorial Report] There might be as many as 15,000 people
with the HIV virus in the country, according to information
revealed at an AIDS conference here on 23 April. It was
stated at the meeting that, according to the World Health
Organization research on the spread of AIDS, there are 100
HIV positive cases for every one AIDS case reported. To
date, there have been 147 reported cases of AIDS in Swazi-
land, meaning that there could be as many as 14,700 cases of
HIV positive individuals in the country. It was further
revealed that the 147 cases only represented 10 percent of the
cases believed to exist but unreported countrywide.

UGANDA

Districts Train HIV/AIDS Counselors

92WE0400A Kampala THE NEW VISION in English
28 Feb 92 p 13

{Article by Frederick Nyakabwa/UNA Fort-Portal]

[Excerpt] The AIDS Control Programme (ACP) Co-
ordinator, for Kabarole and Bundibugyo districts, Dr. Paul
Kabwa, has called upon people in other professions outside
health, to come up and take short courses in HIV/AIDS
counselling, and acquire basic skills and knowledge to
enable them to share the challenge.

He made the call at the end of a two-week HIV/AIDS
Counsellors’ course for 26 health workers, at Kyembogo
District Farm Institute (DFI) near Fort-Portal, Kabarole
District, on February 21.

The health workers came from health units in Kabarole and
their course was organised by Dr. Kabwa and sponsored by
the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Health Project,
on Basic Health Services (BHS).

Topics covered in the course included keeping records of
HIV/AIDS, pre-test counselling, post-test counselling, pre-
diagnosis counselling, educating the Health Units staff on
HIV/AIDS and procedures.



38 WEST EUROPE

DENMARK

Hospital Chief Physician on AIDS Testing
92WE0403A Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE
in Danish 23 Mar 92 p 4

[Article by Jens Thomsen: “Chief Physician Wants Law on
AIDS Testing”]

[Text] The law should make AIDS testing a matter of course
in order to limit the spread of the disease, a chief physician
has proposed. He believes that many HIV-positive people
are not protecting their partners during intercourse.

It should be made legal for doctors to test patients for AIDS
without first asking their permission, according to Dr. Hugh
Zachariae, chief physician at Marselisborg Hospital in
Arhus. q
BERLINGSKE TIDENDE revealed yesterday that some
physicians test their patients for AIDS without consulting
them first. This is illegal, but the situation is “absurd,”
according to Zachariae. He proposes reintroducing the law
on sexually transmitted diseases.

“When the law on sexually transmitted diseases was abol-
ished, it sent the wrong signal to the people: ‘It is your own
business if you want to know if you are HIV-positive or not.”
All the responsibility is placed on those who are well and
must protect themselves, but some responsibility must also
be placed on those who are infected,” Zachariae said.

The law on sexually transmitted diseases required anyone
who believed he may be infected to submit to an examina-
tion. If necessary a health inspector, assisted by the police,
could forcibly examine a possible carrier of infection.
Instead of abolishing the law in 1987, legislators should
have adapted it to include the HIV virus, as they did in
Sweden, according to Zachariae.

“The administration of HIV tests entails numerous regula-
tions that apply to no other examinations. In the past, all
hospital patients were tested for syphilis. That was a routine
matter that no one questioned. After all, society is spending
hundreds of thousands of kroner to treat HIV victims. As a
result, we must also make certain demands of them,” he
said.

Zachariae pointed out that in 1989 and 1990 a total of 39
HIV-infected people were found to have venereal diseases
they could have contracted only by unprotected intercourse.
He pointed out that it was impossible to punish those who
are infected, but that he was interested in their responsi-
bility for preventing the disease from being spread further.

Health Minister Ester Larsen (Liberal Party) said yesterday
on Radio Denmark that should could not support a change
in the law and chief physician Michael von Magnus of the
National Health Board said that, in his opinion, the AIDS
problem could not be reduced by going after the infected,
but rather by informing those who are well.

SIPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

National AIDS Statistics, Trends Reported
92WE0474A Nuuk GRONLANDSPOSTEN in Danish
8 May 92p2

[Unattributed article: “HIV From Greenland to Denmark”}

[Text] In its monthly publication AIDSNYT, the State
Serum Institute of Denmark announced that by the end of
February 1992 a total of 783 cases of HIV infection in
Denmark had been reported to the institute.

The paper continued:

“Tt is important to find out where people became infected if
we want to understand why more and more cases have been
transmitted by heterosexual contact. Of the 165 people who
learned they were HIV-positive during the second half of
1991, 43 percent were gay or bisexual.

But what is the cause of the rising percentage of heterosexual
cases?

A closer analysis of the figures shows that infection con-
tracted abroad is an important reason for the rising number
of heterosexuals with the virus. It should be stressed, how-
ever, that infection by heterosexual contact also occurs in
Denmark. Of the 216 cases of heterosexually transmitted
HIV reported since 1 August 1990, 112 (52 percent) were
found among immigrants or Danes who had sex in other
countries. Nine became infected during sex in Greenland
and 78 cases of heterosexual transmission involved Danes
who had sex in Denmark. For the remaining 17 cases, the
place of infection is unclear or unknown.

FINLAND

HIV-Positive Foreigner Accused of Endangering
Others

92WE0442A Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT

in Finnish 25 Apr 92 p7

[Unattributed article: “HIV-Positive Man Charged With
Fornication That Infringes on Liberty of Others”]

[Text] A trial is in progress in Helsinki Municipal Court in
which an HIV-positive male foreigner is charged with for-
nication that infringes on the liberty [of others]. The same
man was sentenced earlier this year to a short supended
prison sentence for rape committed under particularly
extenuating circumstances.

The man is at present in custody. The arraignment was held
behind closed doors, but the actual trial is public.

On the basis of the pretrial investigation, the police charged
that what was at issue was attempted murder and fornica-
tion that infringes on the liberty of others, but the prose-
cutor does not yet feel that he can charge the man with
anything more than the latter crime.

The investigations as to when the man was diagnosed to be
HIV-positive and whether he was aware that he was infected
at the time of his actions are still in progress.

Whether the plaintiff is infected will be known in 4 months
at the earliest. After that, District Attorney Anu Mantila
thinks that the charges may be reconsidered.



26 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

The IDA loan and the WHO grant have come at a time when
the Indian medical authorities were complaining of finan-
cial constraints while clearly recognising that AIDS was
going to be the major public health problem of the 1990s.

These funds are to provide for building and strengthening
surveillance and clinical management capacity, improving
blood safety and promoting rational use of blood and blood
products. The magnitude of HIV-infection in India is still
lower than that in West Africa, and the major methods of
HIV-transmissions as well as their associated focal points—
especially in urban India, are slowly being identified. These
funds can therefore be used effectively to attempt a con-
certed war against AIDS. The so-called strings attached to
the fund availability—that an autonomous body should be
set up to prevent and control AIDS and that the surveillance
and monitoring data should be made available to the
WHO—are no strings at all. The ICMR, which has pio-
neered AIDS control measures in India should not be
overburdened by assigning it such a large role—although it
is hoped that it would work closely with the new body. There
should also be no problem in sharing the AIDS statistics
with the WHO—AIDS is an international problem and has
to be combated at both levels.

Fight Against AIDS Continues, Statistics Given

Bombay Physician’s Report
92WE0440A Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA
in English 6 Apr 92 p 11

[Article by Bachi J. Karkaria: “‘HIV Has Hit 2.5 Million
Indians”; boldface words as published]

[Text] Bombay, April 5. Dr. T. Jacob John has a soft voice,
and a loud message. His latest finding is that 2.5 million
Indians already carry the human immuno-deficiency virus
(HIV), a revelation as controversial and alarming as his
confirmation, six years ago, of the first HIV-positive case in
India, a Madras prostitute.

Conventional wisdom on the AIDS issue is that it is
confined to high-risk groups, and that the general popula-
tion is immune. Researchers and doctors with their ear to
the ground know that this is the optimism of the ostrich, but
even the less conservative among them don’t put the total
number of HIV carriers over one million.

Dr. Jacob John heads the department of microbiology,
virology and immunology at Vellore’s groundbreaking
Christian Medical College, and has now been appointed to
the WHO [World Health Organization] global programme
on AIDS committee for epidemiological support and
research. He spoke to The Times of India in Bombay not
only on his recent red alert, but also the larger issues in
addressing a scourge that straddles all of society’s concerns.

Asked how he arrived at a figure one and a half times that of
the nearest estimate of HIV positivity, Dr. John refers to
both numbers and trends. Besides, his studies have the
reliability quotient of being time-bound, continuous and
cross sectional. The incidence that he found among Vellore

SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

prostitutes is as high as that quantified by Dr. Geeta Bhave
in Bombay; 35 out of every 100, compared to just one
percent in 1986.

However, the significant difference is that Vellore is not a
port city, commercial capital, tourist trap, magnet for
migrant labour, or centre for any other activity conducive to
an influx of outsiders. It represents medium town India, and
according to Dr. John, these statistics can reasonably be
extrapolated on the rest of the country.

“We began our random sentinel study only two years ago,
but have already found several HIV positives among ordi-
nary patients reporting at hospitals with nonserious com-
plaints. Replacement and voluntary blood donor samples
were, up to 1988, all negative. In each subsequent year, the
rate remained one per 1,000, but, remember, each year we
were looking at an entirely new group.” (In Bombay com-
parable figures are twice as high).

This, according to Dr. John, is indicative of HIV’s contin-
uous, low-level rate of entry into the totally nonrisk popu-
lation all over the country. “We see it in asymptomatic,
unsuspecting pregnant women, all monogamous and
faithful, but all of whose husbands are promiscuous. There
is a ray of hope here, for this is dead-end infection. The
women are unlikely to pass it on through the sexual route.”
(Chances of their passing it on to the foetus is one in three).

But it is an alloyed hope, warns the doctor. “Unlike Africa,
where the leadership also got affected, here the elite may be
spared. But the poor who live in overcrowded places, have
an urban level of income but no savings, and are prone to
blowing up everything on cheap alcohol and bazar sex—
this group will fall sick like dogs, and die like flies. Today,
they are dying of TB and diarrhoeal disease. I’m afraid we
won't do any more to save them from AIDS either. We will
do all we can to protect India, but Bharat will go under. It
is this sin—an exacerbated inequity—that weighs on my
conscience.”

Dr. Jacob John despairs that it has “taken us six years to
realise that the fire has started. The (recent national) con-
ference on AIDS has hit us between the eyes. Virtually every
doctor here—not only the ones from Bombay and Madras—
says he or she has seen cases of fullblown AIDS. But how
many have reported them?”.

So how do we get rid of HIV? “We can’t,” says the
microbiologist, pointing to the habit of retroviruses never to
leave their hosts, whether simian, feline, bovine or, now,
human. “The only option is to take a drastic look at today’s
tisk behaviour, and see how we can alter it to safeguard
tomorrow. Start with children, for whom sex is not a
priority. Expose them to the dangers of multiple partner-
ships before they are in a position to make the choice. If you
leave it till they are sexually mature, they will identify your
message only with such experience, when, in fact it must be
linked to caring, responsible relationships between people.”

According to Dr. John, the subtext of the recent cases in the
United States, involving Judge Thomas, Mike Tyson and
William Kennedy Smith, is that women are saying, ‘When
we sought relationships, you sought sex.’ “Manipulation has



PRUCESS 103 @

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SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

on the thymus gland, which are called the T-type for that
reason, and the B-type immune lymphocytes that form
antibodies in the body. These are composed of [as pub-
lished) bone marrow, the liver, the spleen, and the lymph
nodes.

T-type lymphocytes are the cells responsible for what is
known as imposing delayed sensitivity or cellular immunity.

When microbes attach to the cell [as published] via the
antigen receptors on its surface, the cell has the ability to
recognize the virus and attach to it and to nothing else in the
surrounding environment.

As a result of attachment and bonding between the immune
cell and the virus a violent collision occurs on the outer
surface of the cell. This is called the “antigen-antibody”
reaction, the result of which is to give off certain internal
products of the cell known as “lymphokein,” a substance
which aids in activating the other macrophage cells and the
B-type lymphocytes that send their antibodies to destroy
and consume the attacking virus. Five types are now known,
going by the term antibodies or “aminoglobulin.”

INDIA
Papers Report on Struggle Against AIDS

First Kaposi’s Sarcoma Case
92WE0406A Madras THE HINDU in English
28 Mar 92 p 4

[Article: “Rare AIDS Case With Cancer Detected”]

[Excerpt] Bombay, March 27—The first case of AIDS with
Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS) in a woman has been detected in the
Department of Dermatology and Venereology at JJ Hospital
here.

Kaposi’s Sarcoma is a cancer rare and restricted to Sicilian
males and people in Africa. After HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is
considered to be the most common cancer encountered in
male homosexual AIDS patients, according to Dr. H. J.
Shroff, Head of the Department of Dermatology and
Venereology, JJ Hospital.

It appeared as multiple painless purplish swellings predom-
inantly occurring on the lower limbs and face, he said in a
Press statement.

The present case of KS associated with AIDS, developing in
an Asian woman, was a rare occurrence, he said.

The diagnosis made was of a woman aged 35, by carrying
out Elisa test and the Western Blot test from the patient’s
blood.

Armed Forces Screening
92WE0406B New Delhi INDIAN EXPRESS in English
29 Feb 92 p 11
[Article: “AIDS Makes Inroads Into Armed Forces”]

[Text] Bombay—AIDS, the dreaded disease, has made
inroads into the Indian armed forces and regular screening

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 25

of defence personnel is being conducted, Surgeon Vice-
Admiral, Mr. Y. C. Sharma, said on Friday.

Addressing a press conference organised by the Bombay
Medical Congress, he said the high-risk group in the three
wings was prominent in the Navy. This was because Navy
personnel make frequent trips abroad and are thus more
susceptible, he added.

He said apart from stringent medical screening, special
emphasis was being given to the AIDS awareness pro-
gramme, which can rid the personnel of wrong notions
which many people harbour. He refused to divulge the
number of cases, the defence medical personnel have come
across in their screening. He, however, pointed out that so
far there has been no report on a full-blown AIDS case in
any of the defence hospitals.

Answering a query on the treatment and counselling of
patients, he said neither were they isolated, nor were they
removed from service. But the subject’s health was moni-
tored. [Passage omitted]

Underestimates Scored

92WE0406C New Delhi INDIAN EXPRESS in English
7 Mar 92 p8

[Editorial: “Coping With AIDS”]

[Text] With a $85 million soft loan being sanctioned to
India by the IDA and another $1.5 million by the WHO to
help combat AIDS, there can be no excuse for not trying to
curb the spread of the dreaded virus on a war footing. The
surveillance, monitoring and clinical management of AIDS
leaving much to be desired in the country, it is not sur-
prising that even the number of the human immuno-
deficiency virus (HIV) carriers in India has been grossly
underestimated. While the official figure hovers around
7,000, the WHO holds that it is closer to 40,000. AIDS
tesearchers, however, dismiss even the WHO estimates,
claiming that the real number is nearer to a million. The
Indian Council of Medical Research itself has been warned
by the WHO that in the next five years some 60,000 AIDS
cases would require hospitalisation in the country. The
WHO has also noted that the rate of HIV infection in
Bombay is “unparalleled for its intensity.” Although the
spread of the infection covers the entire country, the three
States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Manipur have for
long been identified as the “danger zones.” Promiscuous
heterosexuals, gays, prostitutes and intravenous drug users
are among the high risk behaviour groups for AIDS. More
than a million people are estimated to be practising “high
risk behaviour” in India. AIDS-control in India has been
complicated further with the discovery last year that the
higher gestation period HIV-2 virus has also established
itself in the country—up to now this strain was largely
confined to West Africa. However, those found with HIV-2
infection in India had neither been to Africa nor had sex
with foreigners. Up to now the screening tests were done for
only HIV-1 but now combined testing methods would have
to be used.



2 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

“By the year 2005 there could be a 20 percent increase in
fully blown AIDS cases but if all control and preventative
measures worked the increase could be about 6 percent,”
Dr. Moeti added.

GHANA

Increase of AIDS in Upper East

92WE0357Y Accra PEOPLE’S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 8 Feb 92 pp 1, 8-9

[Article by Iddrisu Seini, Bolga]

[Excerpt] [Passage omitted] According to the 1991 annual
report on health services in the region made available to the
GRAPHIC at Bolga yesterday, cases of the dreadful AIDS
have been on the increase.

The report said 204 cases of the disease were recorded in the
region last year as against 128 in 1990. This shows an
increase of 92.2 percent.

AIDS cases in the Bolgatanga district increased from 45 in
1990 to 102 in 1991, thus showing an increase of 126.65
percent. [Passage omitted]

KENYA

Study Predicts 2 Million HIV Cases by 1995
92WEO040IA Nairobi THE KENYA TIMES in English
29 Feb 92 p3

{Article by Michael Otieno]

{Text] By 1995, over two million Kenyans will have con-
tracted the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus type one
(HIV-1) responsible for the deadly Acquired Immune Defi-
ciency Syndrome (AIDS).

During the same period of time, 320,000 people will have
died of AIDS in Kenya according to cummulative estimates
attributed to the Ministry of Health.

The shocking figures were contained in a paper titled
“Essential National Health Research Priorities” presented
at a health research workshop at the Kenya Medical
Research Institute (KEMRI) by Dr. Joseph arap Ng’ok and
Ms. Rose A. Bwonya of the Long Range Planning Division
of the Ministry of Planning and National Development.

In the same paper, the two say that the number of HIV
carriers had shot up from 2,000 in 1980 to 700,000 cases by
last year.

This is in sharp contrast to figures released by the then
Director of Medical Services Professor Joseph Oliech who
said that Kenya had slightly over 200,000 cases by the end
of last year.

Dr. Ng’ok’s and Ms. Bwonya’s estimates are based on a
paper presented this month to the Budget Steering Com-
mittee of Kenya by Dr. Cameroon Short, an economic
adviser from Canada and director of LRPD [Long Range
Planning Division]. His paper is entitled, “Demographic
and Labour Force Situation.”

JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

They recommend that the government should step up
campaigns to educate the population on the dangers of HIV
and its long term implications on national development.

“For example, in 1980, there were only 2,000 HIV carriers
and by the end of 1991 the number shot up to 700,000 cases
with 42,000 being given as the total deaths attributed to
AIDS.”

“Projected respective figures for 1995 is 2,124,000 for HIV
carriers and 320,000 deaths,” said Dr. Ng’ok and Ms.
Bwonya.

The workshop was opened by the Minister for Health, Mr.
Jeremiah Nyagah, who told the participants that the destiny
of health development other aspects of the Kenyan society
were in the hands of Kenyans themselves. [sentence as
published]

The two Ministry of Planning and National Development
officers also recommended that research efforts should be
channeled into disease control other than curative methods.

In his presentation, Professor Bill Lore of the Moi Univer-
sity, said that a survey to evaluate the community’s percep-
tion of diseases and health problems affecting them noted
that in Nairobi, sexually transmitted diseases including
AIDS were the most prevalent health problem between age
13 and 19 years.

Over 121,000 AIDS Victims Reported

EA1905075092 Nairobi Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation Network in English 0400 GMT 18 May 92

[Excerpt] The personal assistant to the Rift Valley provin-
cial commissioner, Mr. John Nandasaba, has disclosed that
over 121,000 people in Kenya are suffering from AIDS. He
told a two-week seminar on AIDS at a Nakuru Hotel that the
number was likely to double if stringent measures were not
taken in good time to curb the disease from spreading
further. Mr. Nandasaba called for concerted efforts from all
sections of the entire community to arrest the spread of the
killer disease. On its part, Mr. Nandasaba said that the
government was seriously engaged in awareness campaign
to sensitize people on the dreaded disease, AIDS.

Official Clarifies Reports on AIDS Figures
A2005101092 Nairobi KNA in English 1730 GMT
18 May 92

[Text] Nakuru, 18 May (KNA)—The Rift Valley deputy PC
(Provincial Commissioner] John Nandasaba today clarified
reports appearing in sections of the press quoting him as
saying that over 121,000 Kenyans suffered from AIDS. He
termed the reports as alarmist and a distortion of facts,
saying he had actually said 21,475 people were victims, and
not 121,000 as reported.

While closing a seminar at a Nakuru hotel on Friday [15
May] Mr. Nandasaba is quoted as saying over 121,000
Kenyans were suffering from AIDS and that the number is
likely to increase if stringent measures are not taken.
Reacting to this story, Mr. Nandasaba said he was quoted
out of context and asked for a clarification of the real figure.



16 EAST ASIA

Official Updates Prostitutes AIDS Cases
92WE0376C Bangkok DAO SIAM in Thai 8 Mar 92
ps

{Excerpt] Dr. Pracha Amon, the deputy undersecretary of
public health, said that the Ministry of Public Health, in
cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of
Defense, and various units, is participating in the program
to promote 100-percent condom use at all places of enter-
tainment in the country. This got underway in January
1990. If people protect themselves and their families, this
will help stop the spread of AIDS.

The sixth AIDS survey conducted in 73 provinces in
December 1991 showed that the incidence of AIDS among
prostitutes rose from 15.2 percent to 20.7 percent. However,
the incidence of AIDS among men who came for treatment
of a venereal disease and among pregnant women has
declined. The use of condoms by men who use the services
of prostitutes has risen to 84 percent. Six months ago, the
rate was only 73 percent. [passage omitted]

Chiang Mai Military Unit AIDS Incidence

92WE0376B Bangkok DAO SIAM in Thai 15 Mar 92
pp il, 14

[Excerpt] [passage omitted] Lieutenant Colonel Sakon
Yiamtrakun, the director of the Kawila Hospital in Military
Circle 33, Chiang Mai Province, talked about the incidence
of AIDS among soldiers stationed in Military Circle 33. He
said that today, 12 percent of the soldiers assigned to the

SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

1/34 Relief Unit have the AIDS virus. Two percent of the
soldiers contracted the disease within the past two months.
This is a very high rate of incidence. If this situation
continues, there are fears that in the future, AIDS will
become a very serious problem among these soldiers and
affect the efficiency of the Army.

Government To Tone Down Anti-AIDS Campaign
BK2904040992 Bangkok BANGKOK POST in English
29 Apr 92 p 1

[Text] The anti-AIDS campaign will continue but more
caution will be exercised to avoid affecting tourism, Deputy
Public Health Minister Charun Ngamphichet said yesterday.

Mr. Charun said that the previous and current governments
had a policy of preventing the spread of the deadly HIV.

However, in publicising the threat from the virus the
ministry will be more careful, he said, noting the previous
government’s public relations campaign had seriously
affected tourism.

Thailand’s tourism rivals highlighted the country’s AIDS
problem to draw tourists away, he said.

However, he conceded the Anan Panyarachun government’s
public relations campaign against AIDS had helped reduce
the spread of the virus.

The Government will also continue its anti-smoking policy
because it benefits the public as a whole, he said.



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

2.4, Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan who travel
abroad to countries requiring a certificate of testing for
infection by human immunodeficiency virus (AIDS).

2.5. Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan and foreign
citizens who had sexual contacts with AIDS patients or
virus carriers and who are revealed by epidemiological
examination; they are tested quarterly for 1 year, and twice
a year thereafter with regard for the provisions of Paragraph
14.5,

2.6. Patients with the following clinical indications:

* running a fever for over 1 month;

* possessing two or more enlarged lymph nodes for over
1 month;

* suffering diarrhea lasting over 1 month;

* experiencing unexplained weight loss of 10 percent or
more;

* suffering protracted and recurring pneumonia, or
Pneumonia not responding to conventional therapy;

¢ suffering protracted and recurring purulent bacterial
and parasitic diseases, and sepsis;

* acute encephalitis and weak-mindedness in previ-
ously healthy persons;

* suffering hairy leukoplakia of the tongue;

¢ suffering recurring pyoderma;

* women with chronic inflammatory diseases of the
female reproductive system of uncertain etiology;

¢ suffering chronic inflammatory diseases of the oral
mucosa.

2.7. Patients suspected of, or with a confirmed diagnosis of:

+ Kaposi’s sarcoma;

* cerebral lymphomas;

* T-cell leukosis;

* pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis;

* carrying hepatitis B surface antigen (at the time of the
diagnosis and after 6 months);

* diseases caused by cytomegalovirus;

* generalized or chronic form of infection caused by
herpes simplex virus;

«recurring herpes zoster in persons under 60 years of

age;
* mononucleosis (3 months after the beginning of ill-
ness);
pneumocystosis (pneumonia);
toxoplasmosis (of the central nervous system);
cryptococcosis (extrapulmonary);
cryptosporidiosis;
isosporosis;
histoplasmosis;
strongyloidosis;
fandidiasis of the esophagus, trachea, bronchi or
lungs;
* profound mycosis;
* atypical mycobacteriosis;
* progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

2.8. Children:

2.8.1.—born of HIV-infected mothers, at the time of birth
and 6 and 12 months after birth;

eee eee we

CENTRAL EURASIA 33

2.8.2.—from mixed marriages with foreign citizens,
including marriages not officially registered, at the time of
birth and 6 and 12 months after birth;

2.8.3,—born of sperm donors, at the time of birth and after
6 and 12 months;

2.8.4.—prior to adoption, and upon admission of children
to children’s homes;

2.8.5.—on record with the police, with an early and per-
verted sex life, once a year;

2.8.6.—newborn infants with developmental abnormalities,
intrauterine infection, premature infants.

2.9. Patients regularly receiving transfusions of blood and
its preparations (hemophilia, Werlhof’s disease, von Wille-
brand’s disease, anemia of various genesis, and other blood
diseases and recipients), once a year.

2.10. Pregnant women, when put on record for pregnancy,
and in the 30th week of pregnancy; in the event of the
absence of AIDS testing data or metabolic chart (obmen-
naya karta), at the time of admission to a maternity ward.

2.11. Placental blood from a woman in childbirth being sent
to the Tashkent Scientific Research Institute of Vaccines
and Sera.

2.12, Pregnant women undergoing testing in relation to
artificial interruption of pregnancy.

2.13. Persons entering resuscitation, oncological, thoracic
and hematological institutions and departments.

2.14. Persons suffering sexually transmitted diseases, at the
time of application for medical aid, and thereafter in
accordance with indications; this includes persons with
venereal diseases (adults and children), quarterly for 1 year,
and twice a year thereafter.

2.15. Persons working with the AIDS virus or involved in
diagnosis, treatment and direct services to HIV carriers and
AIDS patients, once a year.

2.16. Personnel of the blood service and of clinical biochem-
ical laboratories, prior to starting work, and annually during
job physicals thereafter.

2.17. Material (blood, serum) from persons who died of
infectious and parasitic diseases, sepsis, and with clinical
signs of the diseases listed in paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7, and on
the basis of AIDS indications.

2.18. Persons in relation to whom there is sufficient and
reliable information that they engage in improper sexual
contacts—quarterly.

2.19. Persons in risk groups: those suffering drug addiction
and toxic substance abuse, homosexuals and bisexuals, and
persons practicing prostitution are tested twice a year.

2.20. Persons in risk groups entering the admissions and
room assignment offices of prison isolation wards, and
persons in corrective labor institutions and in therapeutic
labor dispensaries, upon admission and prior to release.



34 CENTRAL EURASIA

2.21. Persons who had undergone treatment in sanatoriums
and vacation homes, 3 months after their return, once.

2.22. Vagrants without a permanent place of residence.

2.23. Workers of hotels, restaurants and bars providing
services to foreign citizens are tested once a year.

2.24. Drivers of long-distance motor transportation, flight
crews, workers in restaurant cars and refrigerated trains,
and train conductors, once a year.

3. Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, foreign citizens
and persons without citizenship who have expressed the
desire to undergo testing, including anonymously.

4, The principal method of AIDS testing is laboratory blood
analysis.

5. Testing to reveal infection by human immunodeficiency
virus (AIDS) is carried out only in state therapeutic and
preventive institutions.

6. Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, including military
servicemen, who have returned from foreign official, busi-
ness and private trips (lasting over 1 month) are sent for
testing to public health institutions by the organizations that
sent these citizens on such trips (see Paragraph 2.2.).

7. Foreign citizens and persons without citizenship who
arrive for work or for other purposes are tested on the basis
of referrals by the organizations receiving them and by
persons responsible for their arrival. If a foreigner or person
without citizenship so wishes, a medical worker or a repre-
sentative from the embassy of the corresponding state may
be present when blood is sampled.

8. If citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, foreign citizens
and persons without citizenship who have undergone labo-
ratory or clinical testing so desire, they are provided with a
medical certificate of the established format (Form No
082-1/U-88, approved by the USSR Ministry of Health on 7
April 1988) indicating the testing results.

9. If a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a foreign
citizen or a person without citizenship so desires, he may
undergo retesting in another public health institution.

10. Diplomatic associates of foreign diplomatic representa-
tives and consular institutions, and other persons enjoying
diplomatic privileges and immunities in the Republic of
Uzbekistan, may be tested to reveal infection by human
immunodeficiency virus (AIDS) only with their consent.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan
initially coordinates proposals that such persons undergo
testing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Uzbekistan.

11. The question as to the possibility of testing associates of
international, intergovernment, nongovernment and other
organizations and institutions, as well as foreign represen-
tatives who are accredited with the corresponding minis-
tries, departments and organizations, is resolved with the
participation of the ministries, organizations and institu-
tions on the basis of international multilateral treaties and
conventions, bilateral treaties and practice.

IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

12. Medical workers and other persons who have become
privy to information regarding medical testing to reveal
infection by human immunodeficiency virus (AIDS) and
the testing results in the line of duty are obligated to keep
this information secret.

13. The corresponding ministries, departments and organi-
zations are entrusted with practical implementation of these
Regulations and are responsible for their fulfillment.

The Regulations are binding upon all public health organs
and institutions, including cooperatives, ones providing
paid services, and others.

AIDS Cases on Rise in Belarus
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 para-
graphs are SOVETSKAYA BELORUSSIYA introduction]

[Text] One should not say that “This is not a threat for me.”
Each and every one 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
are 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. They are 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 Ger-
many, Italy, Spain and Austria have been stricken the most.
Whereas in East Europe, Southeast 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 eco-
nomic 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



2 LATIN AMERICA

VENEZUELA

AIDS Cases, Information Campaign Discussed

92WE0366A Caracas EL UNIVERSAL in Spanish
Section 2, 12 Mar 92 p 25

[Text] Dr. German Cedeno and Dr. Alejandro Risquez of
Health District No. 3 say that although only 1,061 AIDS
cases have been reported thus far in our country, there may
be about 16,000 individuals infected with the virus,

AIDS will become the leading cause of death in Venezuela
within a few years, according to the information in the hands
of Dr. German Cedeno, head of the Venereology Department
in Health District No. 3, and Dr. Alejandro Risquez, who
formerly held that post but is now returning from the United
States to launch a community education campaign.

“The international increase in the incidence of AIDS has
been dizzying, to the point that the total number of cases
teported in America in 1991 was 247,446.”

This figure does not include the number of persons recently
infected, because, due to the characteristics of the disease, it
is not easy to detect infection with the virus overnight.

Dr. Risquez explained that “the infection is asymptomatic
in its first phase, but as time passes, the individual begins to
display a series of indications that reveal the presence of the
disease precisely when it has begun to alter the individual’s
health definitively.”

The doctor was asked about the situation on the national
level.

“The projections in Venezuela show a total of 1,061 reported
cases. Although this appears to be a relatively low figure, it is
a rather high number if we take into account the characteris-
tics of the national population and the percentage level as
compared to those in other Latin American countries.”

This expert commented that it is presumed that for every
reported case, there are at least 10 to 20 others as yet
undiagnosed. Thus what can be seen is but the tip of the
iceberg, only the small portion represents the top, while at
the base, in the case of our country, there is an average of
some 15,915 persons who have contracted the disease but
are still in the asymptomatic phase.

The doctor said that “the problem of infection with the HIV
virus is very complex, because although AIDS has been
regarded as a disease limited to certain social groups, it has
now been demonstrated to be gradually increasing within
the sector of heterosexual contacts.”

Another of the problems of concern to the doctors is the fact
that the number of women infected has increased signifi-
cantly. This poses a serious threat due to the expanded
opportunities for spreading the virus.

SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Since for some time, the number of women infected remained
only a minimal portion of the overall statistics, the doctor was
asked what he believed to be the reason for the change.

Dr. Cedeno said that “the answer may lie in the fact that
where women are concerned, sexual customs prevent them
from protecting themselves or demanding protection. This
is a cultural process in which a change is needed.”

“The specter of this disease,” Dr. Risquez added, “makes
changes necessary on every level, but what is really urgent at
this time is for all Venezuelan citizens to be properly
informed on this subject. This is because of one of the most
worrisome aspects—the fact that infected individuals are to
be found in the reproductive and productive age group, 25 to
45.”

This could cause a serious disturbance in the labor-economic
sector, where a manpower shortage could develop.

“Our intention,” this doctor said, “has been to organize
activity that allows us to make contact with the public so as
to develop awareness about this disease, above all where
women, the government, and the educational system are
concerned.”

To this end, Health District No. 3 has sponsored a forum in
which various experts will participate. It will be held
tomorrow, Friday, beginning at 0800, at the headquarters of
that health unit.

One of the doctors said that “our goals have to do with a
search for alternatives that will allow us the time and space
in which to gain an understanding of the situation and to
initiate the actions needed to deal with this disease.”

The doctors said that the attitude of women in this connec-
tion has been very passive, and a profound change is needed
here. Consequently, an effort is being made to encourage a
new attitude that is oriented toward taking responsibility for
the health of the couple.

“AIDS,” Dr. Risquez commented, “is a very complex dis-
ease, and its effects extend into the various sectors of national
life—religious, social, economic, political, and legal. In addi-
tion, we could, within a few years, be faced with a tragic
reality—innumerable orphaned and infected children, a
decrease in the average lifespan, and the disappearance of a
substantial percentage of the labor force.

“With regard to the research being pursued on the interna-
tional level to find a cure for AIDS, the picture is not very
encouraging.

“In connection, we must say that both the medications
available and the research are extremely expensive. For this
reason, efforts are being made to prolong and improve the
quality of the lives of infected individuals, along with work in
the preventive area. But no cure has been found thus far. It is
therefore necessary to put into operation an educational
system oriented toward changing the attitudes of individuals
toward sex.”



JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992 3 AIDS

THAILAND

Bangkok AIDS Rate, Condom Use Bangkok MATICHON, 18 Feb 92]
Health Minister Discusses AIDS Test Technique, Costs (Bangkok THAI RAT, 21 Feb 92]
Anti-AIDS Measures for Blood Supply /Bangkok MATICHON, 22 Feb 92] ....
Lampang AIDS Morbidity Spreads to Housewives [Bangkok SIAM RAT, 24 Feb 92]
Specialists Note Anti-AIDS Measures in Dentistry /Bangkok SIAM RAT, 27 Feb 92]
AIDS from Transfusions Seen Increasing /Bangkok DAO SIAM, 28 Feb 92]
Official Updates Prostitutes AIDS Cases /Bangkok DAO SIAM, 8 Mar 92]
Chiang Mai Military Unit AIDS Incidence [Bangkok DAO SIAM, 15 Mar 92]
Government To Tone Down Anti-AIDS Campaign {Bangkok BANGKOK POST, 29 Apr 92]

EAST EUROPE
BULGARIA

Data on AIDS Spread in Bulgaria [Tanya Tsekova; Sofia BTA, 17 May 92]
CZECHOSLOVAKIA

AIDS/HIV Cases Figures Released [Prague SVOBODNE SLOVO, 28 Apr 92]
HUNGARY

Number of AIDS Cases Increases {Budapest MTI, 18 May 92]
LATIN AMERICA
ARGENTINA

Government Launches Free Distribution of AZT
[Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES HERALD, 13 Apr 92]
US. Interference in Anti-AIDS Campaign Criticized
[Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES HERALD, 18 May 92]
BARBADOS
Thirty AIDS Cases in First Quarter [Bridgetown CANA, 8 May 92] ....

CUBA

AIDS Sanitarium in Matanzas Discussed [Juan Carlos Rivera; Havana BOHEMIA, I May 92] .... 18
GUATEMALA

Impact, Spread of AIDS Reviewed
[rina Ruiz Galvez; Guatemala City SIGLO VEINTIUNO, 23 Mar 92]

HONDURAS

New AIDS Cases Raise National Total to 1,831 Tegucigalpa LA TRIBUNA, 3 Apr 92]
AIDS Cases Up 102, Total 1,709 /San Pedro Sula TIEMPO, 3 Mar 92] .....

ST. LUCIA

Thirty-Two AIDS Deaths Registered Since 1985 [Bridgetown CANA, 12 May 92]
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES

Long AIDS Incubation Renders Data ‘Tip of Iceberg’ [Bridgetown CANA, 25 May 92]



JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

among the socially-hazardous diseases covered by the Con-
tagious Diseases Protection Act. All four motions advised
conforming to the recommendations of the European
Council, but all were rejected on the basis that the matter is
already under debate by the AIDS delegation.

Major Review

The same line is taken by the National Health Board who, in
a major review of the Contagious Diseases Protection Act
conducted several weeks ago, wrote in a passage pertaining
to HIV that the policy in Sweden was fine as it was, HIV will
remain under the Contagious Diseases Protection Act,
including the possibility of quarantining individuals with
HIV,

HIV Increases Among Homosexuals, Immigrants

92WEO0419A Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 3 Apr 92 p 5

[Article by Kerstin Hellbom: “HIV Cases Number 3,000 in
Sweden”—first paragraph is DAGENS NYHETER intro-
duction]

[Text] At least 10,000 people in Scandinavia have been
infected with HIV. Of those, approximately 1,860 devel-
oped AIDS, about half of whom have died.

These figures were disclosed yesterday at a seminar given at
the new infectious diseases clinic at Huddinge Hospital, in
which representatives from all the Scandinavian countries
and the Baltic states discussed the various patterns of
contagion in their respective countries.

Most surprising were the figures from Finland, which has
only 371 reported HIV positive individuals, compared to
Denmark’s approximately 5,000 infected. The figures for
Denmark are only an estimate because testing and reporting
are not undertaken to the same extent as in other Nordic
countries, although the figures are well supported.

More accurately documented are the approximately 1,000
AIDS patients in Denmark, against Finland’s exactly 100
cases.

Most are Homosexuals

“We can attribute our high rate of contagion to active
homosexual populations in the beginning and middle 1980's.
They travelled frequently to the United States. It is true that
the rate of spreading among them is no longer increasing,
but they still comprise 66 percent of all HIV positive cases
in Denmark,” said Dr. Peter Skinhoj, professor of infectious
diseases at the Rigshospital in Copenhagen.

In Finland, as in other Nordic countries, most HIV-positive
individuals were infected through homosexual contact. The
fact that Finland has comparativly few infected individuals
is thought to be due to two factors: strict immigration policy
and the small number of needle-users. The Finnish drug
addicts, it was said, move to Sweden.

Sweden stands second on the list with regard to the extent of
contagion in Scandinavia. Up to and including March of
this year, a total of about 3,000 HIV-infected individuals
have been reported, 600 of whom went on to get AIDS, and

WEST EUROPE 41

about 300 who died. In Sweden, also, it is still largely
homosexuals who are among the newly-reported HIV cases.

Infected Abroad

“The infection is increasing among heterosexuals, but the
entire increase is among immigrants. The disease is not
increasing among heterosexual Swedes,” said Professor
Sven Britto, director of the new infectious diseases clinic.

According to last year’s figures (see table), 180 of the year’s
329 reported HIV cases were heterosexually infected. Of
these, 151 were immigrants, and of the remaining 29, about
half were infected either abroad or by immigrants to
Sweden. The same pattern was also reported in other
Scandinavian countries.

Norway, which has 1,100 reported HIV cases, 260 of whom.
have gotten AIDS, differs from the other countries in that
the infection is increasing among homosexual men.

“Despite the massive information campaign we undetook
among them, the infection is spreading. Fully half of the
HIV-positive homosexuals have been infected in the last
three years. That is very disturbing,” said Norway’s repre-
sentative, Bjarne Bjorvatn.

Iceland has only 70 HIV cases, 22 of whom have gotten
AIDS. Nevertheless, the figures are quite high in proportion
to the number of inhabitants—about 300,000 people. And
finally, in the Baltic states, about 20 HIV cases per country
have been reported.

HIV Cases Reported in Sweden
Immigrants from Africa 131
Immigrants from other countries 20
Homosexual men 104
Drug users 30
Heterosexual Swedes 29
Blood transfusion abroad 3
Child, infected by mother 8
Unknown infection source 4
Total 329

Separate Daycare Centers for Children With HIV
92WE0453B Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 30 Apr 92 p 48

[Article by Lasse Granestrand: “Children With HIV To Get
Their Own Daycare Centers”)

[Text] “No child with HIV infection under the age of five
will be placed in regular playschools or daycare centers in
Stockholm.” That was the message delivered by Lennart
Rydberg (Liberal Party), the [Stockholm] social affairs
commissioner.

In the Stockholm region two HIV-positive children have
been placed in regular playschools. There are an additional
eight infected children in a special daycare center run by the
City Mission in collaboration with the city.



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

During the first hearing of the case the man denied that he
knew that he was infected. He said that he had been tested
recently, when he came to Finland. At that time he was
clean.

According to the report, the man left a restaurant to go
somewhere else with two female students. He lay there,
passed out, in the apartment of one of the students.

Last fall an HIV trial came to an end in which a man who
had infected another man with the virus was sentenced to
two years in prison without possibility of parole for aggra-
vated assault and involuntary manslaughter. However, rape
was not at issue.

Stiff Sentence in Sweden

Ina decision recently rendered by the Svea Court of Appeal
in Sweden, an HIV-positive Swedish man’s 7-year sentence
for rape remains unchanged. The court also considered the
damages amounting to hundreds of thousands of markkaa
awarded the woman he infected to be appropriate.

The rape occurred in 1990. The woman had gone to the
man’s apartment voluntarily and there the man informed
her that he was infected. Then the man had forcible sexual
intercourse with the woman several times.

The mother of two children, the woman did not report the
incident to the police until several months later.

The court considered the man to be aware that he was
infected and thus guilty of aggravated rape and assault.

FRANCE
New Measures To Improve Struggle inst
Neve 1 iggle Agai

92P20246A Paris LE MONDE in French 24 Apr 92
plo

(Unattributed article: “Screening Test for AIDS Virus To Be
Reimbursed Fully”)

[Text] On Wednesday 22 April, Bernard Kouchner, minister
of health and humanitarian action, presented a number of
measures to the Council of Ministers intended to improve
the fight against the AIDS epidemic. Confirming that
screening for the AIDS virus will not be made mandatory,
Mr. Kouchner announced that when the AIDS screening
test is prescribed as the result of a medical consultation, it
will henceforth be 100 percent reimbursed. It was also
decided that the number of free screening centers, where
tests are done anonymously, will be doubled so that soon
there will be approximately 250 throughout France.

As Jean-Louis Bianco had previously indicated, screening
can be conducted in public health clinics, consultation
centers for maternal and infant welfare, and centers for
family planning and education.

The award of “grand national cause” for 1992 was bestowed
upon the National Agency for the Fight Against AIDS in
recognition of their informational activities campaign. All
Physicians will be apprised of the rule which prohibits

WEST EUROPE 39

administering screening tests without a person’s knowledge,
and without notifying them of the results.

Finally, the funds allocated by the state for AIDS prevention
will be increased to 200 million francs [Fr] in 1992 (com-
pared to Fri40 million in 1991). The expense borne by
health insurance programs in 1992 to ensure that the
screening test remains free will be Fr200 million.

GREECE

Latest AIDS Statistics Published

92WE0416A Athens ELEVTHEROTYPIA in Greek
15 Apr 92 p 19

{Text] In the first few months of 1992, 50 more individuals
were added to the number of those afflicted with AIDS,
raising the number of cases to 609 by the end of March.
Among the victims, 12 are children.

According to data made public yesterday by Minister of
Health G. Sourlas, the majority of the victims are adult
males. Specifically, of a total of 597 adult patients, 534 were
men and only 63 women.

The age group most affected by AIDS is between 30 and 50
years of age. Divided in five-year blocs, in the group 30 to 34
years old, we have 108 patients both male and female; in the
group 35 to 39, 109 patients and in the group 40 to 49, 116
victims.

It is worth noting that 17 AIDS patients were over 60 years
of age.

The Most Likely Victims

The categories regarding the mode of transmission are
divided as follows:

* 312 are male homosexuals and bisexuals

+ 28 are drug addicts

* 116 persons had heterosexual sexual contacts

¢ 39 persons had blood transfusions and an equal
number of persons received blood derivatives.

Another five are homosexual/drug addicts, while those
remaining have not yet been classified by the authorities of
the Ministry of Health.

To meet the problems of carriers as well as patients, who, for
whatever reason, cannot find housing, G. Sourlas
announced yesterday that soon three hostels will be estab-
lished, two in Athens and one in Thessaloniki.

IRELAND
Health Officials Give AIDS Statistics

Health Minister’s Figures
92WE0431A Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT
in English 27 Mar 92 p 3

[Text] More than 100 people have died from AIDS here
according to the latest figures released yesterday by Health
Minister Dr. John O'Connell. And another 161 who have



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

four-fifths were from Yunnan Province, and most of them
were infected through sharing a needle when taking drugs.

Beijing AIDS ‘Hotline’ Proves Successful
HK2805025892 Beijing CHINA DAILY in English
28 May 92 p 3

{Article by staff reporter Zhu Baoxia: “Hotline Offers
Advice on AIDS”}

[Text] A woman from Sichuan Province doubted that she
had contracted the HIV virus which leads to the fatal disease
of AIDS. She dare not talk with anyone, except for a
questionless friend—the AIDS Help Hoteline in Beijing.

One by one, the hotline adviser answered her inquires and
told her in detail about the symptoms of HIV carriers and
finally he persuaded her to have a thorough physical exam-
ination and blood test immediately.

Under his encouragement, the women went to hospital for a
check- up, and results showed that she had contracted not
the HIV virus but common venereal disease and could be
cured through routine medical treatment.

For many Chinese, AIDS remains a subject that can only be
discussed privately.

But, with an increasing number of HIV carriers being
detected among mainland Chinese residents, medical
workers are trying to turn it into a street topic and to put it
over through hotline talks.

And they have done it.

The country’s first AIDS Help Hotline was set up last month
by the China Health Education Research Institute, and by
last week, about 160 people had called for help.

CHINA 9

Most of the callers are men between 20 to 44 years. Their
questions centered on AIDS symptoms, its infection chan-
nels, virus- testing techniques, self-protection methods and
medical therapies for the disease.

Eight of them said that they have homosexual behavior. One
said he had experiences with prostitutes.

A resident in Zhejiang Province found himself at a “cross-
road” when he learned that one of his relatives had con-
tracted the HIV virus. He could not decide whether or not to
visit the patient for fear that he himself might also be
infected.

The hotline put him at ease. He was told that normal
contacts with patients would not endanger his health.

There are currently 20 specialists working for the hotline
between 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm from Monday to Saturday.

All the staff is from major hospitals and medical research
institutes in Beijing, including China Health Education
Research Institute, ¢ Hospital, Beijing Union Medical
College Hospital, Beijing Medical Sciences University and
the Beijing Gynaecology and Obstetrics Hospital.

“We want to get more people informed of the severe HIV

situation in China, and to contribute to the country’s AIDS

control strategy,” said one of the advisers, who did not give
is name.

By the end of last year, 708 mainland Chinese had con-
tracted the HIV virus, including eight who have developed

Most are drug addicts in southern China’s Yunnan Prov-
ince, who got infected through intravenous injections with
unhygienic syringes.

Apart from giving advice to people on the telephone, the
China Health Education Research Institute also helps train
hotline advisers for other provinces in hopes that more such
services will be made available to the public in all parts of
the country, especially in areas with high incidence of HIV
positive cases.



SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

“It will make it more difficult to control the disease,” he
said.
Describing doctors as cooperative, Dr. Lee said the resis-

tance probably came from patients who did not want to be
embarrassed.

The type of information the department collects deals with
the age, sex and “risk behaviour” of patients. Identities are
kept confidential.

Dr. Lee said the information collected at the moment was
sufficient for the department to predict trends, based on
studies done in other countries.

“We look into the trend rather than the real figures,” Dr.
Lee said.

One of the four new HIV carriers reported last month is
female. All are adults and three were infected through sexual
intercourse. Doctors have not been able to determine how
the fourth person became infected.

Of the 280 HIV-infected patients in Hong Kong, 60 were
haemophiliacs, 186 acquired the infection sexually, five
were drug abusers and three got the illness through blood
transfusions.

Meanwhile, the department is organizing a publicity cam-
paign called “The Youth Funding Scheme on AIDS” which
will encourage people in the 16 to 35 age bracket to organise
AIDS-related activities.

The scheme will provide $8,000 for each of 10 youth groups
or organisations to work on projects by the end of this year.

Interested parties can contact the secretary of the working
group on youth on 8351821.

JAPAN

HIV Carriers in Japan Hit Record High in
March-April

0W2605132192 Tokyo KYODO in English 1303 GMT
26 May 92

[Text] Tokyo, May 26, KYODO—The number of newly
identified AIDS sufferers and HIV virus carriers in Japan in
March and April reached a new two-month high of 84, the
Health and Welfare Industry’s AIDS Surveillance Com-
mittee said Tuesday.

The committee said more than half the newly identified
sufferers were foreign women in the entertainment industry.

The survey showed the life-threatening virus was found in
four prefectures where it was not previously recorded,
indicating it has spread to all 42 prefectures and major cities
in Japan.

The ministry issued an urgent call for more widespread use
of condoms as a preventive measure.

The latest bimonthly figures include 15 actual AIDS
(acquired immune deficiency syndrome) cases and 69 cases
of infection with the HIV, or human immunodeficiency
virus.

EAST ASIA 11

The figure is considerably more than the previous record of
61 cases posted in November and October, 1991.

It brings the combined total of cases to date to 2,226.

Eight persons died during the two months of the latest
survey, bringing the total number of AIDS-caused deaths to
246.

A breakdown of AIDS sufferers and HIV-infected persons
for the two-month period showed 28 Japanese males, 10
foreign males and 46 foreign women affected.

The survey found no new Japanese female AIDS sufferers or
virus carriers.

Thirty-two of the cases were caused by sexual contact with
the opposite sex and 11 were caused by homosexual contact
between males, while the cause could not be clearly identi-
fied in 41 other cases.

Eight of the sufferers were in their late teens, 49 in their 20s,
11 in their 30s, and eight each in their 40s and 50s,

Of the foreign women sufferers, 37 were Thai and the
remaining nine were from Africa and South America. Most
were involved in the entertainment industry.

Of the 11 Japanese males who became infected through
heterosexual contact, four contracted the virus in Japan and
seven contracted it overseas.

The committee said the figures indicate that heterosexual
contact is becoming the main form of transmission of the
virus in Japan.

Government Council Approves New Anti-AIDS

0W0306124592 Tokyo KYODO in English 1223 GMT
3 Jun 92

[Excerpts] Tokyo, June 3 KYODO—The Central Pharma-
ceutical Affairs Council asked Health and Welfare Minister
Tokuo Yamashita on Wednesday to approve the import and
sale of a new anti-AIDS drug that scientists say can slow
down exacerbation of AIDS-related symptoms.

An official said the ministry’s blue-ribbon panel recom-
mended that the Japanese subsidiary of Bristol-Myers
Squibb Co. be able to market the drug in Japan as a
prescription pharmaceutical to be covered by the public
health insurance program.

The new drug, “Didanosine,” code-named DDI, is capable
of increasing the number of AIDS-containing CD4 cells in
the human body and blocking a proliferation of life-
threatening human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the
council said.

DDI will be the second anti-AIDS drug to be sanctioned by
the Japanese government, which earlier approved the sales
of Azidotimidine (AZT).

DDI provides fewer side effects than AZT, which under-
mines the blood-producing capability of human bone
marrow, the council said.



JPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992 2 AIDS

UGANDA

Districts Train HIV/AIDS Counselors
[Frederick Nyakabwa; Kampala THE NEW VISION, 28 Feb 92]
AIDS Commission Head Opens Seminar [Kampala Radio Uganda Network, 20 May 92]

ZAIRE
Largest AIDS Center Risks Closing Algiers LE SOIR D'ALGERIE, 16 Mar 92] ..... 6
ZIMBABWE
High AIDS Incidence Among Children [Harare THE HERALD, 19 Mar 92] 6
Government Reportedly Announces ‘1 Million’ HIV Positive
[Sarah Samson; London BBC World Service, 7 Apr 92] 6

CHINA

Over 200 AIDS Carriers [Zhu Baoxia; Beijing CHINA DAILY, 16 Mar 92] ...
AIDS Prevention, Cure [Zeng Liming; Beijing GUANGMING RIBAO, 9 May 92]
Beijing AIDS ‘Hotline’ Proves Successful [Zhu Baoxia; Beijing CHINA DAILY, 28 May 92]

EAST ASIA
REGIONAL AFFAIRS

Thailand, Burma To Cooperate in Fight Against AIDS, Malaria
[Bangkok BANGKOK POST, 27 Apr 92]

HONG KONG

Number of HIV Carriers Rises to 276

[Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA SUNDAY MORNING POST, 26 Apr 92 p 3]
Doctors Urged To Divulge Information on AIDS Patients

[Fiona Chan; Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 23 May 92]

JAPAN

HIV Carriers in Japan Hit Record High in March-April [Tokyo KYODO, 26 May 92] ..
Government Council Approves New Anti-AIDS Drug /Tokyo KYODO, 3 Jun 92]

SOUTH KOREA

AIDS Impact Seminar Warns of Over 500 HIV Carriers
[No Chun-hun; Seoul THE KOREA TIMES, 30 Apr 92]

LAOS
Columnist Discusses AIDS Problem [Vientiane PASASON, 21 Feb 92] ....
MALAYSIA

Health Ministry on Automated Testing Unit
[Kuala Lumpur NEW STRAITS TIMES, 15 Jan 92]

NEW ZEALAND

Medical Study—Rate of Increase of AIDS Slowing [Hong Kong AFP, 12 May 92]



32 CENTRAL EURASIA

Uzbekistan Institutes AIDS Education for Youth

92WE0279A Tashkent MOLODEZH UZBEKISTANA
in Russian 5 Nov 91 p 6

[Article by Liliya Belei, under the title: “AIDS and Youth”;
under the rubric: “Anti-AIDS, Third Article”)

[Text] As children grow older they need more detailed
information as to how to protect themselves from HIV
infection. But teachers, parents, and even public health
workers do not yet have a unified opinion as to what and
how to tell children about AIDS prophylaxis.

The question which evokes sharp disagreement is: Is it
necessary when telling teenagers about AIDS to inform
them in detail about the routes of transmission of the virus
and how to avoid the risk of transmission of HIV infection?

More than half of American teenagers begin sexual life
before 17 years.

In our country, especially in the Central Asian part, the state
of affairs along these lines is more favorable, which is
explained by national and regional customs. Until recent
times, our youth has had limited access to all kinds of
literature and video products. But as the result of processes
taking place in society, the reduction of requirements on the
quality and content of movie and video products and
printed matter, information containing the most frank
reports regarding various aspects of life, including sex, has
come down upon youth in torrents. And as a result of this a
sexual revolution has “begun to march” across the country,
sweeping away all barriers, impediments, and prohibitions
in its path. What America experienced in the 1960s is just
beginning here. But, unlike previous years, the situation is
aggravated by the menace of the spread of AIDS. On Sept.
12, 1991, 667 HIV-infected Soviet citizens and 597 foreign
citizens were registered in the country.

So far the epidemic has not inundated the country; we have
time to create a barrier against its spread. And, as has been
stated already, health education is the most effective means
of AIDS prophylaxis. It is also necessary to develop an AIDS
program for parents, who are in many cases the first source
of such education for children, a source of information or a
role model. The results of an investigation carried out in the
USA indicates that teenagers with whom parents have
discussed sexual questions when they were children are
inclined to begin sexual life at a later age.

There are for youth in particular, along with a heightened
danger of infection with AIDS, broad possibilities in the
contemporary world to use their energies and ideas in the
prophylaxis of HIV infection. There is already experience
abroad with the involvement of teenagers in efforts to
disseminate information on AIDS questions, as well as in
providing assistance to HIV-infected individuals and AIDS
patients. For example, there are at the present times more
than 150 youth “Anti-AIDS” clubs in Zambia. The mem-
bers of the club make a pledge of sexual abstinence before
marriage, take on the obligation of disseminating informa-
tion on AIDS among friends and relatives, to care actively
for those who have become infected or become ill, and to

IPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

help their families. Brochures for younger and older school-
children are also published there with information on AIDS
prophylaxis. In a number of countries a sex education
course is included in the educational system. When there is
no such course, some teachers of older grades conduct some
kind of “sexual orientation”, if they see the necessity for it,
outside the framework of the official curriculum. At the
same time many teachers are not prepared to undertake sex
education. They must with difficulty overcome their own
prejudices and religious views. Investigations on the sexu-
ality of teenagers show how little correct information they
receive on questions of sex, and how unreliably informed
they are about reproduction, physiological cycles, and the
prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
A similar level and quality of teenagers’ information on
these problems are also observed in our country. In this
context the necessity of developing approaches to and
curricula for sex education among students of schools,
technicums, and institutes of higher education of the
republic has come to a head. This work is being carried out
by staff members of the Republic Center for the Prophylaxis
and the Campaign Against AIDS of the Ministry of Public
Education. A health education course on AIDS prophylaxis
will be introduced into all educational institutions in the
very near future.

Uzbek Anti-AIDS Law

92WE0412A Tashkent MOLODEZH UZBEKISTANA
in Russian 14 Nov 91 p 4

[Regulations on Medical Testing to Reveal Infection by
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS) and on Preventive
Observation]

[Text] 1. These Regulations are published on the basis of
Article 2 of the Uzbek Republic Law dated 14 June 1991
“On Prevention of AIDS,” and of the “Regulations on
Medical Testing to Reveal Infection by Human Immunode-
ficiency Virus (AIDS)” approved by the USSR minister of
health on 4 October 1990, and they establish the following
procedure for medical testing of citizens of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, foreign citizens and persons without citizenship
residing on or present within the territory of the Republic of
Uzbekistan to reveal infection by human immunodeficiency
virus (AIDS).

2. The following are subject to testing:

2.1. Donors of blood, blood plasma and other biological
fluids and tissues, at the time of each donation.

2.2. Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan returning from
foreign official, business and private trips of greater than 1
month’s duration, upon their return and 6 months later.

2.3. Foreign citizens and persons without citizenship
entering the Republic of Uzbekistan for study, for work,
after vacations or for other purposes, within the 10 days
after arrival, and during annual preventive examinations,
with regard for the provisions of Paragraph 9 of these
Regulations, with the exception of foreign citizens and
persons without citizenship arriving from countries issuing
certificates of testing for antibodies to the AIDS virus that
are recognized by the USSR.


20 LATIN AMERICA

Presently, there are 14 guarantors among the residents of
Ismael Triana Torres. This attests to the humane quality
and maturity of the patients and their interest in reinsertion
into social life.

Psychologist Ivette Dominguez Llamas talked to us about
the particulars of her work. She told us that because it is a
closed unit, she achieves a high degree of identification with
the patients and their problems.

The most difficult stage, she says, is the adaptation period,
when they are advised that they have HIV and must enter
the sanitarium. The logical symptoms of mental imbalance
and stressful situations appear at this point: sleep disorders,
loss of appetite, vomiting, prolonged diarrhea, anxiety reac-
tions, etc. In this first stage, in which they must face the new
reality, they need more help and understanding. In some
cases it is even essential to administer psychopharmacolog-
ical treatments.

Rivera: “Which problems do you have to deal with most in
your daily work?”

Dominguez: “I stress respect for each person’s individuality
and the necessity of maintaining good collective relations.
We have patients here with a particular sexual orientation
and with religious beliefs, educational backgrounds, habits,
and personalities that differ. In group therapy, I never tire of
making them understand this, and up to now, things are
going well.”

In my search for the reason why the province of Matanzas,
with two important tourist centers (Varadero and Cienaga
de Zapata), several ports, and a continuous flow of foreign
tourists, has such a reduced number of HIV-positive diag-
noses, I talked with Dr. Mercedes Hernandez Limas, an
epidemiologist with the Provincial Epidemiology and
Hygiene Center. She says that high-risk groups (homosexu-
als, promiscuous youths, or youths engaging in disorderly
sexual conduct, who are carriers of sexually transmitted
diseases, etc.) have, in their majority, been identified, and
the center is working with them. The work of the family
doctor in the community is also fundamental because he
does the active tracking of the potential contaminators.
Moreover, I am told that the largest percentage of the
visitors to these hotel-type installations are not from Matan-
zas, but rather a “floating population,” mainly from the
capital. “The fact that during 1990 and 1991 only one new
case per year was diagnosed does not mean that they are the
only ones infected. There are many people who refuse the
tests,” says Dr. Hernandez Limas.

According to Dr. Hernandez Limas, there is still a lot of
ground to be covered, and the fight must not be centered
solely on looking for the diseased. It must also avert infection
of the healthy population. This is relatively simple if we just
understand what responsible fulfillment of one’s sexuality
means. It does not mean renouncing one’s choice or way of
life, but rather exercising care, above all, to preserve life.
Something as easy as using a condom.“ [Box, p 32]

The Figures Speak

Of the 24 cases diagnosed in Matanzas, 16 were men, and
eight were women. Two have died.

SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Types of relations: 19 heterosexual and five bisexual; 15
index cases (original cases from whom infection spread) and
nine contacts.

GUATEMALA

Impact, Spread of AIDS Reviewed
92WE0385A Guatemala City SIGLO VEINTIUNO
in Spanish 23 Mar 92 p 14

{Article by reporter Irina Ruiz Galvez]

[Excerpts] AIDS is a cause of major concern to both public
health authorities and various sectors of the population in
general because the virus (HIV) is now spreading to a larger
extent among the country’s heterosexual group, affecting
men, women, and children. This disclosure is made in the
quarterly report of the National AIDS Program.

When the syndrome was first identified in the United States
in 1981, it was thought to affect only homosexuals. In fact,
the first cases were discovered among men in the United
States. Hence, during the 1980’s AIDS was striking homo-
sexual and bisexual men, hemophiliacs, and drug addicts, in
particular; and was confined primarily to the large cities of
Brazil and Mexico.

Nevertheless, its impact is being felt increasingly in the
underdeveloped countries, affecting various risk groups. For
example, in Guatemala, by February 1992 the cumulative
Statistics reflected a considerable rise: 240 AIDS cases, of
which 101 persons died.

After the first case was diagnosed in our country in 1986,
more infected patients began gradually showing up, as
follows: nine cases in 1986, 13 in 1987, 18 in 1988, and 18
in 1989. The disease obviously progressed in 1990, when 78
cases were recorded, with 94 more in 1991. In February of
this year a cumulative figure of 240 AIDS patients, 257
cases of asymptomatic infection, and 32 with chronic lym-
phadenopathy was reached. [passage omitted]

In addition, the report from the General Directorate of
Health Services’ Communicable Diseases Department notes
that the ages of those hardest hit by the syndrome in our
country are in the 15- to 49-years-old bracket. It adds that,
insofar as gender is concerned, of the 240 cases, 80 percent
are males and 20 percent are female, a ratio of four to one.
During recent months, however, the disease has been found
to be progressing rapidly among the female population.
Based on the foregoing report, it is disturbing to observe
that men and women of fertile age are the highest risk
groups in Guatemala and that the spread of AIDS among
women is progressing, with sexual transmission the most
obvious form of infection. [passage omitted].

HONDURAS

New AIDS Cases Raise National Total to 1,831
92WE0437A Tegucigalpa LA TRIBUNA in Spanish
3 Apr 92 p 10

[Text] Preliminary AIDS statistics for March reveal that 100
more cases have been confirmed, to raise the number of



Epidemiology
AIDS

JPRS-TEP-92-009 CONTENTS 19 June 1992
[This EPIDEMIOLOGY report contains only material on AIDS. Other epidemiology topics are covered in a later
issue.]
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ANGOLA

More Than 400 Cases of AIDS Reported
[Sebastiao Quinza; Luanda JORNAL DE ANGOLA, 6 Mar 92]

BOTSWANA
Estimates of 40,000 Believed To Be HIV Positive
[Olekanye Paul; Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS, 21 Feb 92] ....
AIDS Official on Spread of AIDS; 35,000 Infected (Johannesburg SAPA, 24 May 92] .
GHANA
Increase of AIDS in Upper East /Iddrisu Seini; Accra PEOPLE’S DAILY GRAPHIC, 8 Feb 92] ... 2

KENYA

Study Predicts 2 Million HIV Cases by 1995

[Michael Otieno; Nairobi THE KENYA TIMES, 29 Feb 92] 2
Over 121,000 AIDS Victims Reported
[Nairobi Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Network, 18 May 92] 2
Official Clarifies Reports on AIDS Figures [Nairobi KNA, 18 May 92] 2
MOZAMBIQUE
Red Cross Official on AIDS Training Program
[Maputo Radio Mozambique Network, 23 May 92) ..... 3

NIGERIA
AIDS Cases May Total 2 Million by 1993 /Onajome Orere; Lagos THE GUARDIAN, 1 Apr 92] .. 3
SOUTH AFRICA

Rate of HIV Infected Women Noted

[Heather Robertson; Johannesburg SUNDAY TIMES, 5 Apr 92]
Statistical Modelling Suggests 400 Per Day AIDS Infected [Johannesburg SAPA, 24 Apr 92]
KwaZulu Health Minister Says AIDS Becoming Major Problem

[Johannesburg South African Broadcasting Corporation Network, 26 Apr 92]
Ninety-One New Cases of AIDS First Three Months of 92 (Johannesburg SAP.
Rate of HIV Infection Said To Be Decreasing

[Cas St Leger; Johannesburg SUNDAY TIMES, 3 May 92]
Transkei Bans Release of AIDS Information to Media /Umtata Capital Radio, 23 May 92]

SWAZILAND
Estimate of 15,000 With HIV /Mbabane TIMES OF SWAZILAND, 24 Apr 92 ]

UA BR BW



28 NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA

taking the initiative. India had approached the Bank nearly
nine months back for the loan.

The Government of India will launch a programme against
AIDS which will include a nation-wide public information
campaign to educate the masses, measures to improve the
safety of national blood supplies, education of medical
professional and social workers in counselling the patients,
measures to control sexually transmitted diseases and for-
mation of national and state AIDS control cells to monitor
and control the spread of the disease.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $99.6 million, of
which the World Bank will provide $84 million, the govern-
ment $14.1 million and the WHO will grant $1.5 million.
The bank’s lending will be through the International Devel-
opment Association on soft terms, apart from support from
the Bank, there has been “excellent cooperation” with
bilateral sources. The Atlanta-based centre for disease con-
trol, the premier US organisation, has helped with technical
know-how.

The project hopes to increase the blood screening capability
in India to about 90 percent in five years from the current 25
to 30 percent. The screening of blood is limited to major
metropolitan areas. The quality of condoms available in the
Indian market will be improved. One of the major target
groups will be professional blood donors who are considered
a high-risk group because of their closer contact with sex
workers. “There will be a phased reduction of professional
donors over time. The government doesn’t want to hurt
them but it has to be done. The advantages outweigh the
disadvantages,” said Mr. Vergin.

According to Mr. Richard Skolnik, chief of India’s popula-
tion and human resources division at the Bank, the project
will develop a series of technical committees which will help
in evolving guidelines on training to deal with it in a
humane way. “There is a considerable amoynt of training of
doctors needed to understand what AIDS is. One anticipates
it won't be easy,” Mr. Skolnik said. “When it showed up in
other countries, there was considerable ignorance.” News
reports have documented cases of major hospitals in
Bombay turning away patients because they had AIDS.
Nurses have taunted and refused to treat people who are
HIV-positive. But there seems to be commitment in the
health ministry to control the problem before it controls the
people.

Sharp Rise in AIDS in Calcutta
92WE0463 Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English
15 Apr 92 p 1

[Text] In four months, the number of AIDS positive cases in
Calcutta has gone up from 18 to over 30. Alarmed by this
significant increase, the Government has convened a
meeting of all departmental secretaries and heads of dif-
ferent State Government directorates at the Rotunda in
Writers’ Buildings on Thursday morning.

At the meeting, the Health Minister and the Chief Secretary
will brief bureaucrats of this development and discuss

IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

measures that would have to be taken. Experts of the School
of Tropical Medicine’s Virology Department will also be
present at the meeting.

Sources in Writers’ Buildings said on Tuesday that the data
concerning AIDS incidence in Calcutta had only recently
‘been updated by the Tropical School scientists. They had
told the Health Department that the number of cases, which
was only 18 over the past four or five years, had climbed to
more than 30 in over a four-month period. In December last
year, the Health Department had said that the number of
AIDS positive cases had not crossed 20 despite the height-
ened surveillance by the Tropical School scientists.

The sources explained that all departmental heads had been
asked to attend Thursday’s meeting as the acuteness of the
problem demanded a systematic and sustained effort by the
State Government.

A massive AIDS awareness campaign would have to be
launched and discussions would centre around modalities of
that drive. Those entrusted with the responsibility of under-
taking the campaign would be asked to ensure that the
people did not panic. The Vice-Chancellor of the State-
aided universities have also been asked to attend the
meeting.

The Health Department did not want to divulge details
concerning cases that had been found to be AIDS positive
very recently. When contacted, Dr. M.S. Chakraborty, Head
of the Virology Department, Tropical School, refused to
provide any details at this stage. Other sources said that a
few of the more recent cases could be prostitutes. It may be
recalled that the Tropical Schoo! has been collecting a large
number of blood samples from the red light areas more than
two years ago.

New Delhi, Islamabad Discuss Pakistan
HIV-Free Requirement

BK2805165892 Delhi All India Radio Network
in English 1530 GMT 28 May 92

[Text] New Delhi is in touch with Islamabad on Pakistan’s
notification that Indians visiting that country should have a
medical certificate that they are not HIV positive. An
External Affairs Ministry spokesman said in New Delhi
today that it is understood that the notification is being
withdrawn.

ISRAEL

Spread of AIDS Virus Doubled Compared to 1990

TA2705163092 Tel Aviv HADASHOT in Hebrew
27 May 92 p 10

{ITIM report]

[Excerpt] The speed with which the AIDS virus is spreading
in Israel has doubled. That is the conclusion from data
gathered over the first five months of 1992, compared to the
first half of 1990. This was reported yesterday at a gathering
of the top officials in the Negev of the Histadrut sick fund at
the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.


SJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

A voluntary society known as “You and Us,” which was
established on the initiative of people infected with the
virus, met in Moscow today, to help resolve the problems of
people whom this misfortune has befallen. Participants will
seek to find jobs for people infected with the virus, organize
a mutual support service, help to protect these people’s legal
rights, and advocate safe sex practices. It is inhuman, to say
the least, to persecute people because they carry the AIDS
virus. No one is immune against this disease. By ostracizing
people and denying them elementary medical aid, we are
risking driving this problem deep underground, with unpre-
dictable consequences. [191616] [video shows laboratory
scenes, world map showing incidence of AIDS, meeting,
poster, more laboratory instruments]

AIDS-Infected Blood Donor Discovered in Vilnius

0W0205171692 Moscow BALTFAX in English
1526 GMT 2 May 92

[Following item transmitted via KYODO]

[Text] The Lithuanian AIDS Prevention Center has
announced the discovery of the 12th AIDS-infected resident
of Lithuania. Deputy chief of the Center, Mr. Algimantas
Treciokas, said in his interview to BALTFAX correspon-
dent that the AIDS-infected individual had long been a
permanent blood donor in Vilnus. Algimantas Treciokas
confirmed the risk of infecting the patients receiving this
donor’s blood: in spite of the fact that blood is subjected to
the AIDS test each time it is donated, there is a conservation
period when the anti-bodies cannot be discovered in the
AIDS-contaminated blood.

It seems that to the former blood donor the news of his
AIDS infection came a complete surprise. Therefore no legal
charges will be brought against him. The managers of the
Center find it difficult to attribute him to any particular risk
group.

Company Offers Insurance Against AIDS
LD1005063592 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English
0449 GMT 10 May 92

[Article by ITAR-TASS correspondent Svetlana Kalashni-
kova]

[Text] Khabarovsk May 10 TASS—An insurance company
in the Russian Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk has offered
insurance against AIDS.

The company has already issued the first 100 certificates,
which guarantee their holders a compensation of up to
50,000 rubles if they become infected.

Only one person has been tested HIV-positive in the region
so far.

CENTRAL EURASIA 37

AIDS Prevention Center Established

LD1605135792 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English
1908 GMT 14 May 92

[Article by ITAR-TASS correspondent Lyubov Dunayeva]

[Text] Moscow May 14 TASS—Russia has worked out a
state programme for the prevention and treatment of AIDS.
The programme is intended for the period ending in 1995
and covers such areas as the prevention of the spread of
AIDS sexually or through blood transfusions, the ensurance
of diagnostics, treatment and clinical examination of
patients, etc., Vadim Pokrovskiy, doctor of medicine,
director of the recently established Russian republican
Aus research and prevention methods centre, told ITAR-

Much attention in the programme is devoted to raising the
effectiveness of research into HIV infection, he said. Since
the beginning of the year, 50 new HIV- infection cases have
been identified on the territory of the former Soviet Union.
It is more than in the corresponding period of last year,
Professor Pokrovskly said.

Unfortunatelly, the scope of HIV-infection incidence will
continue to grow subsequently as well because there is no
monitoring of businessmen who arrive in this country,
foreign tourists, and compatriots who travel abroad, he
pointed out.

There have been some media reports recently about alleged
instances of physician’ ’s being infected while giving medical
aid to an AIDS patient. The data were not confirmed
because an infected physician had not been examined prior
to contacts with the patient and had other infection risk
factors, Pokrovskiy said.

Moscow University Claims AIDS Virus Dormant
in Every Person

LD2705140292 Moscow ITAR-TASS World Service

in Russian 1210 GMT 27 May 92

[Excerpts] Moscow, 27 May (ITAR-TASS) —Sensational
information has arrived from the Biological Department of
Moscow State University. A DNA site homologous to the
DNA of the AIDS virus has been discovered in the 19th
chromosome of a healthy individual’s cell. This is reported
in today’s edition of the ‘24’ newspaper. However, despite
the daring statement bordering on a major discovery, no
detailed information is available on the discovery or its
author. [Passage omitted: named scientists quoted evalu-
ating the discovery}

Fifty AIDS infected people have been registered in the CIS
since early January—more than over the same period of last
year. The “VOSTOCHNYY EKSPRESS” newspaper notes
that the forecast is gloomy: the epidemic will spread owing
to the flow of foreign tourists and entrepreneurs to our
country which is not monitored through AIDS testing.
Russian citizens, too, can “bring” the dangerous virus from
abroad.



IJPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

REGIONAL AFFAIRS

WHO Director Discusses AIDS
92WEO0450A Jeddah ‘UKAZ in Arabic 27 Apr 92 p 11

[Interview With Dr. Husayn al-Jaza’iri, WHO Regional
Director for Eastern Mediterranean, by Salih ’Abd-
al-Fattah; place and date not given: “Health Minister Who
Has Become Official in Charge of Health of Eastern Medi-
terranean: ‘AIDS Surrounds Arab Map; Population Growth
Devours Arab Child’s Health Mercilessly; Third World
Countries Are Swamp for Diseases of Advanced Countries;
Leave No Woman Unmarried, Unless You Want AIDS To
Devour Us”’]

[Excerpts] “The Arab citizen’s health continues to be in
danger. Diseases threatening the entire world are likely to
enter our Arab world. It is not unlikely that AIDS will
spread in our Arab world. Our mothers continue to give
countless births.” [Passage omitted]

*Abd-al-Fattah: What is your opinion of the statement that
AIDS poses no threat to our Islamic region, and how do we
confront this accursed affliction?

Jaza’iri ; We must not accept complete optimism in connec-
tion with keeping the danger of AIDS away from the region.
The fact that we are Islamic states doesn’t mean that we are
safe from this accursed disease. Infection with AIDS doesn’t
result just from [the lack of] moral deterrent. There are
numerous means by which blood is transmitted. The
greatest fear is that these means will proliferate in our
region. Even though we are likely to be among the countries
least afflicted by this disease, this doesn’t mean that we
shouldn’t devote great attention to this malady.

It was said that the disease was spreading in the United
States [only]. Then it was said that it was spreading in
Europe. It later became obvious that it was spreading in
Africa and that it has been transported to Southeast Asia,
Thailand, India, and to numerous other places where it was
believed the disease couldn’t spread. Adequate enlighten-
ment is a must, because we fear that we will find ourselves
caught suddenly and strongly in the talons of this disease.
The ideal solution is to adhere to the faith, not to get
involved in prostitution, and to marry legally. Through
"UKAZ, I urge all the youth of our Arab region to marry
legally. For those who are unable to get married, they should
remain chaste, as the prophet, may God’s Peace and prayers
be upon him, has advised. Europe is living in great anxiety
now, and the Western citizen suspects everything around
him because of this disease that claims more victims every
day. [Passage omitted]

BANGLADESH

Eight HIV Positive Cases Detected So Far

BK0205161692 Dhaka Radio Bangladesh Network
in English 1530 GMT 2 May 92

[Text] The 16th meeting of the national AIDS committee
was held in the WHO office in Dhaka today. Deputy Leader
of the Jatiya Sangsad [parliament] and Chairman of the
committee, Professor Badrudduja Chowdhury, presided. It

NEAR EAST & SOUTH ASIA 23

was disclosed that Bangladesh has no known case of AIDS at
present, but has detected eight cases of positive AIDS virus
so far out of which one developed full-blown AIDS and
died. The meeting stressed the need for creating mass
awareness against this killer disease.

EGYPT

Overview of Spread, Treatment of AIDS in Egypt

92WE0343A London AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT in Arabic
21 Jan 92 p8

(Unsigned article datelined Cairo: “Beginning With Pro-
fessor at American University, Precaution at Fever Hospital
in al-’Abbasiyah”]

[Excerpts] The first installment that we published in this
investigation of acquired immune deficiency syndrome
[AIDS] dealt with the illness in Morocco. Today, we publish
the second installment, on AIDS in Egypt.

This illness has become a heavy incubus on the chest of
human society, East and West. It is spreading at a fright-
ening rate among the globe’s inhabitants. Intensive efforts
are being made to control, slow, and eventually overcome
this killer plague. In spotlighting on this frightening illness,
through this investigation and others, we are attempting to
contribute to the current campaign to develop awareness
among young people of both sexes and to warn them against
coming into contact with sources of infection and to avoid
its causes. [passage omitted]

There was a horrible crime committed against Egypt by an
American tourist. He carried on debauchery and perverted
sexual relations with six deprived children he picked up on
public streets. The question that immediately comes to
mind here is the following one: Is this American leading a
plan to destroy our youth? Is there a link between him and
his trip to Israel before coming to Egypt? How could this
American tourist spend three years in Egypt without anyone
knowing about him, despite his being without work or a
stable source of income? Dozens of questions are still
awaiting clear answers.

Many Examples

There is the German tourist who sought out workers in a
bakery next to his building; the British expert who used to
pick up people in his car and take them to his apartment;
and another Englishman who was turned in by parents of
students in al-Muhandisin neighborhood for making stu-
dents skip school and sexually attacking them.

American Tourist, Innocent Victims

[passage omitted] The question is: How did the responsible
agencies deal with this American tourist? The prosecutor’s
office ordered him jailed for four days for questioning, and
had the children turned over to their parents. The accused
was sent to the venereal disease section of the al-’Ajuzah
Hospital to determine whether he had any venereal or
communicable diseases, amidst many admissions by the
children that other deprived children used to visit him.



IPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

another ward, 90 percent of the admissions last week had
HIV-related illnesses such as tuberculosis and pneumonia.
Tuberculosis was nearly eradicated 10 years ago in Zim-
babwe, but now its one of the first diseases which hits
someone with AIDS and hospitals all over Zimbabwe echo
to the sound of rasping coughs. The government acknowl-
edges that there is AIDS in the country, announcing last
week that 1 million Zimbabweans were infected. The doc-
tors believe this number is still conservative, saying it is far
nearer to 2 million, and criticizes {as heard] the government
for not doing enough to help.

Many essential drugs are simply not available, resulting in
an episode I saw in which a nine-year-old boy had a minor
operation with no anesthetic, just two nurses and a doctor to

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1

hold him down. It’s because of the lack of resources that
some surgeons are no longer doing any major operations on
HIV infected patients. This action is only taken on major
surgery, but one doctor warned that he might do the same on
smaller operations.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of health has just begun a large
AIDS prevention campaign. This will involve health
workers in rural areas teaching communities about the
disease and how it is spread. This might prevent [word
indistinct] like that of little Nomsa Moyo, born a year ago.
She has AIDS and will be celebrating her birthday today,
ironically on World Health Day, but her grandparents
believe that this will be her last birthday. [end recording]



10 EAST ASIA

REGIONAL AFFAIRS

Thailand, Burma To Cooperate in Fight Against
AIDS, Malaria

BK2704010592 Bangkok BANGKOK POST in English
27 Apr 92 p 6

[Text] Thailand and Burma have agreed to cooperate in
fighting the spread of AIDS and malaria along their
common border, Public Health Deputy Permanent Secre-
tary Thira Rammasut said over the weekend.

Dr. Thira, who returned recently from Rangoon where he
had gone to discuss health problems along the Thai-Burma
border, said the meeting agreed to take steps to stem the
spread of AIDS and malaria which are threatening the
peoples of the two countries.

The meeting, he said, identified three border crossings as
areas vulnerable to the spread of the two diseases. They are
Mae Sai District of Chiang Rai and Tachilek of Burma, Mae
Sot District of Tak and Myawadi and Muang District of
Ranong and Burma’s Kaw Thaung.

Dr. Thira said a large number of Thais and Burmese pass
through the three crossings every day. Anyone infected with
a communicable disease can easily transmit the infection to
others, he added.

Malaria clinics will be set up to provide blood checks and
treatment as well as education in health care, he said, adding
that those with advanced malarial symptoms can be taken to
hospitals on either side of the border.

To prevent the disease from becoming drug resistant, Dr.
Thira said, both sides would use the same treatment.

On AIDS, the deputy permanent secretary said educational
campaigns would be stepped up because of the presence of
large number of service girls—mostly Mon, Karen and
Shan—who have problems of communication.

Border checkpoints, which are the most important intercep-
tion points, will be used to educate the girls on safe sex.

Selected girls and fishermen will be recruited to undergo a
training course so that they can spread the message to their
colleagues.

Special mobile medical units will be set up to follow up on
AIDS cases.

HONG KONG

Number of HIV Carriers Rises to 276

HK2604065692 Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA SUNDAY
MORNING POST in English 26 Apr 92 p 3

[Text] Four men were diagnosed as HIV carriers last month,
bringing the total number of AIDS infected persons in the
territory to 276,

Referring to Government statistics released yesterday, a
spokesman for the Department of Health said no new cases
of AIDS were reported during the period and the number of
confirmed cases remained at 61.

SPRS-TEP-92-009
19 June 1992

Dr. Lee Shui-shan, a consultant physician for the Depart-
ment of Health, said yesterday that the people of Hong
Kong should join in the war against the killer disease.

So far, 40 AIDS patients have died and 21 others are either
under treatment or have left the territory.

Under the HIV surveillance programme started in 1985,
229,771 blood specimens have been tested for the HIV
antibody.

The Hong Kong Red Cross blood transfusion service has
also screened all donors for AIDS. Up to last month, 18
donors were found to be HIV positive.

Doctors Urged To Divulge Information on AIDS
Patients

HK2405054092 Hong Kong SOUTH CHINA
MORNING POST in English 23 May 92 p 2

[Article by Fiona Chan]

[Text] Doctors are being urged to furnish vital information
on their AIDS patients to enable the Government to plan a
strategy to fight the killer disease.

The number of reported cases stands at less than one-tenth
of the 5,000 the Government’s AIDS experts estimate the
territory has,

Up to the end of last month, only 280 HIV carriers, four
more than the figure for March, had been reported to the
Department of Health.

The head of the department’s AIDS preventive unit, Dr. Lee
Shui- shan, said his estimation was based on developments
in other countries.

He believed the huge discrepancy was the result of most
patients consulting private doctors, who were not forced to
disclose the information.

Data on AIDS is collected mainly by the government virus
laboratory which does second tests on specimens referred to
it by all public hospitals and some private laboratories.

AIDS is not one of the 23 notifiable diseases all medical
practitioners are required to report to the department.

The department is planning at least two seminars, probably
jointly organised with other associations, to lobby doctors
for help.

Dr. Lee suggested doctors could maintain better communi-
cations with the Government’s AIDS experts to share expe-
riences in fighting the disease.

The message will be contained in the new version of an
AIDS pamphlet to be distributed to all doctors in a fort-
night.

The pamphlet also gives the latest information on the
disease which surfaced in the territory in 1985.

Dr. Lee rejected legislative measures to press doctors to
divulge the necessary information, on the grounds that this
might push patients into going overseas for testing or even
avoid tests altogether.