16 EAST EUROPE

Bitola, Prilep, Stip, and Tetovo. Registered drug addicts in
Skopje are still HIV-negative, unlike the situation in Bel-
grade, where 86 percent of those tested are contaminated.

That the people of Skopje are becoming increasingly aware
of AIDS is indicated also by the fact that people are
volunteering to take the AIDS test and are coming to the
Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions Clinic. The test
costs 5,200 denars, and in the case of individuals belonging
to the high-risk groups, the test is free. “We have developed
particularly good cooperation with the Bardovci Hospital,”
says Dr. Dimitar Dimitriev, the clinic’s director, “and the
drug addicts who come for treatment are tested twice
annually. In the past, we also kept prostitutes, as well as
inmates in Izdrizovo, under observation, in cooperation
with the MVR [Ministry of Internal Affairs]. However, we
no longer do so because of financing problems.” The main
threat comes from our people working abroad, he says, for
which reason he believes that even despite the liberal
control rules of the World Health Organization, our country
should do something to help us to defend ourselves against
individuals who may be potential carriers of the virus into
our country.

Steps Taken

In our country AIDS is still not a social problem. However,
the projections of its spreading are not all that rosy. Bearing
in mind that from the day he contacts the disease to his
death, a patient, assuming that he would live another 2 to 3
years, would cost society about $170,000 annually, all
necessary steps should be taken to maximally limit channels
leading to the spreading of the virus. Most important in this

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

respect is promoting health-education for the population,
particularly the youngest. To this effect, a program on the
health education of children in grammar schools has been
drafted, with a view to preventing the spreading of AIDS.

Furthermore, the health services must be maximally
equipped not to spread the disease itself. In addition to the
mandatory testing of each container of blood and the
mandatory use of disposable syringes, the measures taken by
the stomatological service are equally important. The
instruction on the protection from AIDS in stomatology was
drafted by a team of physicians from stomatological clinics,
according to Docent Dr. Evdokija Jankulovska, and issued
to all outpatient facilities in the Republic. A stomatologist
may be the first to see indications of the disease in individ-
uals and, considering that in Macedonia there are about 2.5
million procedures involving blood annually, the steps
which are being taken are particularly important. However,
again the problem of finance appears, related to the man-
datory use of gloves, protective masks, and disposable cups.

The fact that some changes are being made in that area as
well is indicated by the fact that, unlike during previous
years, when funds for implementing the program for the
protection from AIDS was 80 percent insured by the Health
Insurance Fund, while the budget contributed 20 percent,
which was not the best possible system, this year the funds
will be provided in their entirety by the state. This is
because only good and prompt prevention would enable the
state to ensure having healthy generations and to protect
itself against the tremendous cost of treating new AIDS
patients.



10 EAST ASIA

be effective because it has a different scientific structure
than the GP-120 vaccine. Its effectiveness has not been
proven. This is a scientific dispute. As I said, the profits to
be made are huge. Whoever discovers an effective vaccine
will be rich, The Ministry of Public Health has already
approved the GP-160 vaccine. We are now waiting for data
from the United States. They are expected to announce the
results of the tests done on a group of soldiers sometime
next month. The question is, have tests already been con-
ducted in Thailand? Because when injections are given here,
they may tell the patients anything. They may not tell them
the truth. The problem is that we can’t control this. Abroad,
when tests are conducted on people, they have to tell the
patients what the drug is and what the effects are. People
tend to think of Thais as stupid. But we don’t tell them in
advance and therefore conclude that they are stupid. There
are some things that they have to be told. This may or may
not be effective. What they are worried about is whether this
is really effective. It’s like they are being tricked. If the
vaccine is ineffective but the subjects are told that the
vaccine is effective, that’s tantamount to tricking them. And
we don’t know what the side effects are. The side effects
experienced by Thais may be different from those experi-
enced by foreigners, and we don’t know how long they will
last. If someone dies as a result of this, who will take
responsibility? Tests were conducted in Zaire in Africa
(using a live virus) and the subjects died. But that was a
completely different vaccine than this one. Neither one of
these two vaccines should have such fatal side effects,” said
Professor Wichai Choetchiwasat in opposition to those who
support testing the AIDS vaccine.

Dr. Praphan said that this will be strictly voluntary. There
are 40-50 types of drugs used to treat this disease. They have
been obtained both directly and indirectly. Those who will
use the drugs must review the evidence. They have the right
to make their own decision. All of the AIDS vaccines
provide short-term benefits. It may be necessary to give
booster shots from time to time. It does not appear that the
AIDS vaccines have any negative side effects.

Today, the battle to defeat this terrible disease continues.
And there are calls to stop and consider the ethics and
morality of this. If someone does succeed in defeating this
disease, he will definitely win fame and fortune. But they
should remember to treat the AIDS patients fairly, because
they are fellow human beings.

AIDS Control Committee Approves Vaccine
Experiment
BK2304033493 Bangkok Radio Thailand Network
in English 0000 GMT 23 Apr 93

[Text] A prototype AIDS vaccine produced from protein
GP-160 has been approved by the National Committee
on AIDS Control and Prevention to be experimented in
Thailand. Secretary of the Human Research Committee,
Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Wichai Chokwatthana,
says that the Natioanl Committee on AIDS Control and
Prevention has given its approval for the vaccine to be
tested on AIDS patients in Thailand. This will be the
first ever AIDS vaccine to be experimented in this

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

country. The protein GP-160 AIDS vaccine has been
produced under a joint project of the Royal Thai Army's
Institute of Medical Science and (Water Reed) Military
Hospital in the United States. It is carried out under the
AIDS research program of (Micro Genesis) Company.
The vaccine has been already approved for its safety in
the preliminary step. It is going through the efficiency
testing for the second step. Its experiment will start in
late May by the Royal Thai Army’s Institute of Medical
Science. However, the importation of vaccine for the
experiment has yet to be formally approved by the
National Committee on AIDS Control and Prevention.

Doctors Predict AIDS Trends, Facility Shortages
93WE0317D Bangkok MATICHON in Thai 14 Feb 93
pp 1, 32

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] In an interview with MATI-
CHON, Dr. Pradit Chroenthaithawi, the rector of Mahidol
University, said that when discussing the university’s
budget with the budget subcommittee on 29 December
1992, when the budget for procuring medical equipment to
check for and treat AIDS was discussed, he informed the
subcommittee of the present AIDS situation in Thailand.
He told them that the AIDS situation is very alarming. At
present, approximately 400,000 people have the AIDS
virus. Fewer than 1,000 people have full-blown cases of
AIDS. However, the efforts made by several units to control
this disease have not achieved the desired results. It is
believed that by the year 1997, or in just 4 more years, the
number of people with full-blown cases of AIDS will reach
200,000.

“Stop and think about that. Hospitals nationwide, including
community hospitals, have a total of about 90,000 beds. But
there will be approximately 200,000 AIDS patients who will
need treatment. What are we going to do? Will the AIDS
patients be allowed to take all 90,000 beds? Are we going to
turn away patients suffering from other diseases? That’s
impossible. How are we going to solve this problem?” said
Dr. Pradit.

Dr, Pradit also mentioned the drugs used to treat AIDS
patients. He said that it costs about 200,000 baht a year to
treat one AIDS patient using the drug AZT. If there are
200,000 patients, that means that we will have to spend
about 40 billion baht to treat these people. Where will the
government get that much money to provide treatment?
When the AIDS problem reaches that crisis stage, it is the
community that will have to take responsibility. That is, the
subdistrict or district in which the AIDS patients reside will
have to take responsibility for those patients. They will have
to build clinics for them, with doctors and nurses from the
hospitals providing care.

“At that time, AIDS patients, whose numbers will exceed
the number of hospital beds, will probably have to go to the
nearest temple. The temple will be the best place to look
after them during the final moments of their life,” said Dr.
Pradit.

Dr. Prawet Wasi, a doctor at the Sirirat hospital and a
Magsaysay doctor, told MATICHON that there are now



20 NEAR EAST/SOUTH ASIA

AIDS Termed ‘Time Bomb Ticking Away’ in India

93WE0356A Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH in English
14 Apr 93 p 10

[Article by Arvind Kala: “AIDS in India, The Time Bomb
Ticks Away”]

[Text] For 6 months I’ve worked on a book on AIDS in
India and I’m appalled by how little people know about this
epidemic. For instance, I hear even educated Indians asking
questions like: Is it true that AIDS is spreading in India? Or
is it a bogey created by the West?

The truth is that AIDS isn’t visible because it usually takes
7 to 10 years for the symptoms to show up in a patient after
infection. So even if hundreds of thousands of Indians are
infected, we won’t know it. In fact, we won’t know when
they start showing symptoms because most Indian doctors
don’t recognise AIDS-related symptoms—prolonged night
sweats, sudden and unexplained weight loss, severe diar-
thoea, fever that doesn’t go, oral thrush, and so on.

Officially, only 306 Indians are suffering from full-blown
AIDS and another 11,406 are HIV-positive. But that’s the
tip of the iceberg, as the cliche goes. For instance, the Indian
Council of Medical Research estimates the number of
carriers at 6,37,000 [as printed] in urban areas alone. It
avoids speculating on HIV-incidence in rural India saying it
possesses no information about the mating habits of the 95
million sexually active Indians between 15 and 45 who live
in villages.

The ICMR’s estimate of infected Indians is an under-
statement, however. Top Indian virologist Dr Jacob John
says they may number 2.5 million, while the World Health
Organisation estimates that India will have the largest
number of carriers by the year 2000.

In recent months I’ve had a horrendous glimpse of how
prostitution is spreading the AIDS virus. In our prudish
society, prostitution is discussed neither in private nor in
public. But every urban centre in India has an identifiable
red-light area that has flourished for as long as anybody can
remember. In Delhi’s red-light area of G.B. Road, for
example, hundreds of gaudily-painted women stand framed
in doorways and windows calling out to males passing
below.

In Bombay, they preen inside cages and on roadsides,
masses and masses of them, old women, middle-aged
women, girls as young as 14, servicing the countless single
men who come to the cities in search of work. Go to any
town in India and the story is the same.

Prostitution flourishes in India’s hinterland too. Go to a
village called Basai near the Taj Mahal and every woman
there is a prostitute. The trade enjoys the tribe’s social
sanction because it has been practised for generations. Every
daughter in this village practises prostitution till she gets
married. Then she becomes a monogamous, home-loving
wife. Other parts of India have similar prostitute villages.

The ICMR estimates the number of India’s working prosti-
tutes at one million but the figure could be ten times that.
However, even if we accept the figure of one million

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

prostitutes and each services four clients a day, that works
out to a daily total of four million sex acts. Imagine the
consequences of this commercial sex!

Tens of thousands of prostitutes are getting infected by
hundreds of thousands of customers, mostly poor migrants
who return to their villages, infect their wives who in turn
give birth to infected children. And so the AIDS virus
spreads in a manner too frightening to contemplate.

Ordinarily, heterosexual sex is quite safe, studies show
worldwide. The chances of an uninfected person getting
HIV from an infected partner during one act of unprotected
sexual intercourse is rated just one in 500 to one in 1000.
But the risk goes up manifold when one or both partners
suffer from a sexually transmitted disease. This is because
STDs cause ulcers in a woman’s vaginal tract and make her
more vulnerable to passing or receiving the AIDS virus.

In India, an estimated 70 to 80 per cent of prostitutes suffer
from an STD at any given point of time.

Sex with an infected prostitute is actually quite safe if clients
would wear condoms, but unfortunately they don’t,
believing that it diminishes sexual pleasure. And prostitutes
don’t insist, because they are hardly aware of AIDS, and
because they fear that their insistence may drive the client to
another prostitute who is game for unprotected sex.

Looked at superficially, it seems easy to control an HIV
epidemic. All it requires is convincing prostitutes and their
clients to use a condom. Unfortunately, this isn’t easy
because human behaviour is hard to control. For instance,
people can’t be dissuaded from smoking and drinking
heavily even when they know that it can ruin their health
and shorten their lives. So how can men visiting brothels be
made to alter their sexual behaviour? Particularly when they
are illiterate coolies, rickshaw-pullers, petty vendors, and
truck-drivers, who usually come to brothels drunk. The last
thing on their mind is the possibility of their lust giving
them a fatal infection.

In Bombay, however, Dr I.S. Gilada, founder of the Indian
Health Organisation, is performing a miracle in the city’s
red-light areas. Daily his social workers visit brothels and
tell prostitutes that in the age of AIDS, their trade can prove
fatal unless they are careful. Only condoms can save them
from the risk of AIDS, so they must insist that clients wear
them.

To emphasize the gravity of their mission, the social
workers take along boxes of condoms that they distribute to
the prostitutes. The condoms are bought with money that
Dr Gilada receives from foreign voluntary organisations.

Gilada’s personal style of campaigning is certainly paying
dividends. I accompanied his workers to several of Bom-
bay’s red-light areas and saw that his movement has proved
a runaway success. I saw prostitutes beseiging his workers
for free condoms. Obviously, Gilada’s message of safe sex
had sunk in.

Gilada’s campaign, however, covers only 3,000 of Bombay’s
100,000 prostitutes. In the brothels that haven’t come in



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

BOTSWANA

All Districts Now Reporting AIDS Cases
93WE0383A Gaborone BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS
in English 26 Jan 93 p 5

[Article: “All Districts in Botswana Now Reporting AIDS
Cases”)

[Text] All districts in Botswana are now reporting AIDS
cases, but because of under-reporting and delay in reporting
from districts, the real number of AIDS cases is believed to
be much higher, according to an update report from the
Ministry of Health.

By early 1992 about 60,000 people in Botswana were
estimated to be infected, making 4.5 percent of the total
population of 1.3 million or nearly 9 percent of the sexually
active population now HIV positive.

It says 353 cases of AIDS have been reported, representing
less than 10 per cent of the estimated adult population
infected. One and sixteen deaths were reported.

It is estimated that 5 years from now, a cumulative total of
155,000 people will be HIV infected and the cumulative
AIDS cases will have reached 27,000 will have died.

Demographic figures for Botswana indicate Gaborone has
in the 15 to 49 age group, 36,887 males and 33,058 females
HIV infected. Francistown has 12,840 males, 14,431 of the
same age and Lobatse 5,957 males infected and 7,001
females.

Selebi-Phikwe recorded 14,095 males HIV positive and
12,310 females, Orapa 3,626 males and 2,020 females,
Jwaneng 6,585 males infected and 3,303 females.

Tlokweng recorded 3,246 males and 3,306 females while
Palapye has 4,254 males and 4,764 females. About eighteen
percent of the age 0 to 4 were infected, 2.5 percent in the 5
to 14 years bracket.

An HIV sentinel survey showed Gaborone, representing
urban areas had 14.9 percent pregnant women positive,
Francistown, representing urban areas, 23.7 percent and
Maun representing semi-urban areas at 12.7 percent.

HIV prevalence by age groups stood at 16.4 percent in the
15-19 bracket, 20.9 percent in the 20 to 24, 19.4 percent in
the 25 to 29, 16.5 percent in the 30 to 34, 8 percent 35 to 39
years and 9.3 percent ages 40 to 44 years.

By early 1992, one out of seven pregnant women in “Gabo-
rone, one out of four in Francistown and one in eight in
Maun were infected.”

Children aged 0 to 4 were infected, mainly due to transmis-
sion from mother to child. The peak of reported cases in
females is seen in the 25 to 29 age group whereas the peak
for men is the age group 30 to 34 with few cases after the age
of 50.

It is assumed women are more infected with HIV than men,
based on the observation that women seem to be more
susceptible to HIV transmission than men both biologically
and socially.

AFRICA 1

GHANA

Health Minister Discusses AIDS Crisis

93WE0370A Accra PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 16 Mar 93 pp 1, 8-9

[Article by Rosemary Ardfayfio: “Screening of Blood
Against HiV-antibodies Is Being Pursued—Cdre
Obimpeh”]

[Excerpt] The risk of HIV infection is being minimised by
ensuring that blood transfused is really essential and that the
blood has been screened for HIV antibodies.

Commodore S.G. Obimpeh (rtd), Minister of Health said
this when he inaugurated the Media Network on AIDS
(MENA) in Accra yesterday.

He said since the spread of AIDS through blood products is
a real risk due to unavoidable blood transfusion that are
carried out daily, more Ghanaians should voluntarily
donate blood so that a lot of the paid donors who are usually
unsuitable blood donors are eliminated.

The minister urged MENA and other mass media practitio-
ners, as one of the targeted audience that has a very crucial
role to play in the educational campaign to motivate the
populace to practise safer sex.

Commodore Obimpeh stressed that there is evidence to
show that the HIV/AIDS situation in the country is wors-
ening and there is the need for intensification of efforts to
prevent and control its spread.

He said 5,000 AIDS cases had been officially reported as at
the end of last year and most of these had died.

In parts of the country where the prevalence of the infection
has been monitored in pregnant women, the rates of infec-
tion were between one and four percent and in a particular
region, rates of 18 percent have been recorded, the minister
said.

Commodore Obimpeh stressed that since about 70 to 80
percent of the public perceive the mass media to be their
primary source of information, members of MENA should
avoid simply following official lines and minimise the use of
technical jargons. [passage omitted]

AIDS Spread in Central Region ‘Alarming’
93WE0370B Accra PEOPLE’S DAILY GRAPHIC
in English 27 Mar 93 p 1

{Article by James Mensah, Cape Coast: “Rate of AIDS
Spread Alarming in C/R”]

[Text] Dr. Frank K. Nyonator, senior medical officer in-
charge of public health in the Central Region has described
as alarming, the rate at which AIDS is spreading in the
region.

Giving figures to support his claim, Dr. Nyonator said in
1991, 65 cases of HIV positive was recorded at the Cape
Coast Hospital from a total of 1,098 blood screened while
132 out of 1,279 was recorded last year.



IJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

BERMUDA

AIDS Prevention Campaign for Schools Planned

FL 1405234393 Bridgetown CANA in English
1957 GMT 14 May 93

[Text] Hamilton, Bermuda, May 14, CANA—The Bermuda
Government is considering a plan to distribute condoms in
the island’s schools.

But Health and Social Services Minister Quinton Edness said
he wanted to be sure there was support for such a change.

Shadow Health Minister Nelson Bascome said the plan
should be implemented only after consultation with parents
and Parent-Teacher Associations.

Edness said the Advertising and Publicity Association of
Bermuda was working on a scheme to encourage Bermu-
dians, and young people in particular, to be more careful
about their lifestyles and practise safe sex.

More than 170 people have died from acquired immune
deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Bermuda and Edness said he
hoped a multi-media AIDS prevention campaign would be
ready for the new school year in September.

CUBA

Alarcon Discusses Importance of Fighting AIDS

FL1405180793 Havana Radio Rebelde Network
in Spanish 1135 GMT 14 May 93

[Interview with Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National
Assembly of the People’s Government [ANPP], by reporter
Guillermo Morales at ANPP Headquarters in Havana—live]

[Text] Morales: Good morning. As usual on Friday, our
society is committed to facing the problem of AIDS
[Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome]. I am convinced
that we must all be committed to facing the AIDS issue. This
includes everyone from the grandmothers who clean the
floors to the president of the ANPP. It so happens that
Ricardo Alarcon has agreed to speak to us early this
morning on AIDS. Good morning, Alarcon.

Alarcon: Good morning.

Morales: Alarcon, as an individual, how do see a person
infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV]?

Alarcon: I believe that a carrier of the virus is a victim of an
illness that is a scourge to mankind. It is a terrible illness,
and many probably acquired the virus involuntarily, even
though it relates to problems such as lack of sex education or
incorrect conduct. I believe that to be able to confront this
illness and be able to discuss it openly, it is important to see
it as something that worries all of society, and where the
important factors in fighting AIDS are sex education and
establishing appropriate sexual habits.

LATIN AMERICA 17

In our case, we could say the greatest problem would be
sexual contact. In other countries, such as in the United
States where they use needles to dope themselves, drug
abuse is an important factor in spreading this sickness. In
other words, these factors fortunately do not exist in our
society in such a depressing and general way as they do in
the United States and other places.

Morales: Alarcon, if you believe that AIDS is reflective of
inappropriate sexual habits, then how do you explain the
fact that there are patients who have been infected from the
second sexual contact in their life?

Alarcon: That depends [words indistinct] if you have sexual
contact with someone infected with HIV, even though it is
the first or only time in your life that you have had sex, that
is all it takes to get the virus. But, there are other ways to
acquire the virus. It is not exclusively through sexual con-
tact. In our case, as I said before, there is not the generalized,
mass use of drugs through inoculation as in other parts of
the world, where the sanitary condition of the needle is a
cause, or the problems with uncontrolled blood transfu-
sions, which also has allowed the virus to spread massively
in some countries. The causality is very complex. Someone
may get HIV even though their only sexual contact is with
their sexual partner who might be a carrier of the disease.

Morales: Have you visited any of the sanatoriums in the
country? Have you gotten to know any HIV patients
personally?

Alarcon: No, I have not met any of them in Cuba and I have
not visited any of the sanitoriums. I have met AIDS patients
in the United States because it is very easy to get in touch
with them. There are many organizations in the United
States fighting for their rights, above all demanding effective
treatment from U.S. society. I have met some of the
organizers of these groups, who are also infected with AIDS,
Since in the United States they are out in the streets, in other
words they are not in any sanitorium, it is easy to make
contact with them. But here in Cuba I still have not had the
opportunity to visit with them.

Morales: How have you committed yourself in the fight
against AIDS?

Alarcon: Well, just like all Cubans, in the sense that I will
support the program that our country is developing with
respect to this matter and I will recommend, as I said before,
that people take precautions and measures to avoid
becoming victims of this disease. Another way is by helping
to educate the people, explaining how they should behave to
avoid becoming a victim.

Morales: Alarcon, we thank you for this interview. We
believe everyone should be committed to fighting AIDS,
from the grandmother who cleans the floors to the president
of the ANPP. As we do every Friday, we continue with our
section, “The Society Committed to Fighting AIDS.”



SJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

figure, 25 are AIDS cases. This was told in a high level
meeting on AIDS, held here at Ministry of Health building.

The meeting was chaired by Minister for Health, Syed
Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi, and attended by senior officials of
the Ministry and National AIDS Programme (NAP).

The participants of the meeting reviewed in detail the
progress and activities in connection with prevention and
control of AIDS in Pakistan, particularly during present
regime.

Dr Sarwar Habibur Rehman, Deputy Director-General
Ministry of Health informed the Minister that 25 AIDS
screening centres have been established throughout the
country and in major hospitals.

The AIDS screening kits and materials are being provided
free of cost and tests are being carried without any charge in
these centres, he said.

It was told that more than 263,828 persons have been tested
for AIDS till December 1992 while this number will reach
around 365,000 this year.

Dr Sarwar who is also national coordinator of NAP
informed that the AIDS tests have been conducted on cross
sections of population including prostitutes, injectable drug
users, prisoners, sailors, bisexuals, people returning from

NEAR EAST/SOUTH ASIA 23

abroad, referred cases, TB patients, blood donors, refugees
and volunteers for AIDS testing.

The participants were also informed that it has been decided
that AIDS free certificates will be mandatory for foreigners
and sailors coming to Pakistan. Similarly these certificates
are also required on all import of blood, blood products,
vaccines etc.

The meeting also reviewed the steps for creating awareness
among masses for the prevention and control of AIDS. It
was told that various seminars and training workshops have
been organised. These seminars and workshops were
attended by physicians, medical practitioners, para-medical
staff, nurses, mediamen, religious leaders, teachers, stu-
dents, labourers, sailors and air crew people, more than
1017 participants members have been trained in 24 training
workshops during last year.

The Minister for Health appreciated the work of the officials
involved in National AIDS programme and urged them to
further accelerate their efforts to reduce the threat of AIDS.

He said that present government gives great importance to
AIDS prevention programme and assured all possible sup-
port during fiscal year. He also promised that funding
required for health education material in combating AIDS
would also be provided soon.—PPI



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS

Doctor Assails AIDS Policy in Territories
93AF0480Z London AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT in Arabic
30 Mar 93 p 4

[Article by Ilyas Nasrallah: “Palestinians Concerned Over
Lack of AIDS Program in Occupied Territories”)

[Text] London—Dr. Umayyah Khumash, director of oper-
ations of the Union of the Palestinian Medical Assistance
Councils in the occupied territories, based in Jerusalem,
yesterday violently criticized the medical administration
that has been established by the Israeli occupation forces in
the West Bank and Gaza. He accused it of deliberate neglect
in the fight against AIDS.

Dr. Khumash rejected as inaccurate allegations that cases of
AIDS among the Palestinian population originated from
outside, charging that these allegations were attempts to
cover up Israeli medical policy in the occupied territories.
He said that the Israeli authorities have not bothered to set
up a program designed to combat AIDS inside the territo-
ries, thus exposing its people to the threat that this fearful
disease will spread.

These accusations followed reports by Israeli medical
sources that revealed that there were 24 cases of AIDS
among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, all resulting
from contaminated blood transfusions.

Dr. Khumash said that the existence of a single case of
AIDS, or any other kind of serious disease, should be
enough to prompt the authorities to set up a program to
fight it, let alone when the official count of the number of
AIDS cases is greater than 20.

A study by Dr. Shlomo Ma’ayan, head of the AIDS Depart-
ment at the Hadasa Hospital in Jerusalem—the most impor-
tant center for combating AIDS in Israel—revealed that the
incidence of AIDS cases was three out of every 100,000
Palestinian living inside the occupied territories, whereas
the proportion for Israelis was five out of every 100,000.

According to the study, 1,207 Israelis are infected with
AIDS. Also according to the study—which was made in
preparation for the World Symposium on AIDS that is
scheduled to be held in the United States next summer—all
of the Palestinians suffering from AIDS were, without
exception, outside the country being treated for various
medical conditions when they received contaminated blood.

The figures relating to the number of AIDS cases among
Palestinians are inaccurate, Dr. Khumash said, because
there are no specialized local institutions qualified to con-
duct the necessary procedures, this being the result of the
circumstances stemming from the occupation. Neither are
the health centers in the occupied territories and Gaza able
to perform specialized procedures because of the absence of
an AIDS program by the central authorities.

Dr. Khumash disclosed that Israeli data concerning AIDS-
infected Palestinians is inaccurate and that some of those
patients had been infected inside the country, not outside.

NEAR EAST/SOUTH ASIA 19

He mentioned the case of a patient, whom he knew person-
ally, who had been infected with AIDS while in jail. The
danger of the spread of AIDS increases with the presence of
tens of thousands of Palestinian workers inside Israel,
mingling with Israelis who, according to Dr. Me’yan’s study,
suffer from a higher incidence of AIDS cases.

INDIA

AIDS Cases Said Rapidly Increasing
93WE0346A Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English
6 Apr 93 p6

[Article: “AIDS Scenario Turning Grim”]

[Text] The AIDS scenario in India is fast becoming grim,
following a sharp rise in HIV seropositive cases among
prostitutes in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and many other
States, according to sources in the Indian Council for
Medical Research. While prostitutes and professional
blood donors have been identified as the major high-risk
groups, intravenous heroin users and foreigners are largely
responsible for the spread of the HIV infection in some
north-eastern States and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
respectively.

According to ICMR sources, more than 242 full-blown
AIDS cases have been reported so far in India. The first
AIDS case in India was reported in 1986, the victim infected
by blood-transfusion during a coronary bypass surgery in
the USA. The second case, a hemophiliac, was reported a
month later. The ICMR said the epidemic spread of the
virus had started in 1985-1986 and by 1992, it had spread to
most of the States and Union Territories of the country.

Between 1986 and 1992 more than 1.5 million people had
undergone seropositivity tests. The data for all groups
indicated that the HIV prevalence rate grew from 0.2
percent in 1986 to 0.7 percent in 1992. In some places like
Bombay, HIV prevalence among prostitutes has jumped
from two percent in 1988-89 to 40 percent last year. Studies
conducted at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, on
HIV infection among prostitutes and patients suffering
from sexually transmitted diseases showed a 1.5-fold
increase in prevalence—from about 15 per 1000 in 1986-87
to about 23 in 1992. In Manipur, the prevalence rate of HIV
is about 54 percent in intravenous drug users.

While States like Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland repre-
sent only three per cent of India’s population they account
for about 15 percent of the country’s existing seropositive
cases, according to ICMR sources. In Manipur, more than
10,000 of the 25,000 odd intravenous drug users are HIV
positive, the sources said. They are fast spreading infection
to prostitutes.

Recent investigation by the ICMR scientists in the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands revealed that 23 percent of
the Thai, three percent of the Myanmarese and one percent
of the Pakistani jail inmates were infected with HIV.



14 EAST ASIA

talking about measures applied in Haiphong city to prevent
and control the spread of AIDS.

Answering a question about measures already applied in the
city to prevent AIDS, Ms. Bay said a “combination of
various activities has been launched, such as an education
and propaganda program together with social and health
activities.”

The education program, Ms. Bay said, was carried out in
many forms: “word of mouth, consultations and giving
information, workshops, seminars, and use of public mass
media such as Haiphong radio, television, and newspapers.
At present, three consultation centers have been set up at the
city’s Epidemic Center, Women’s Federation Office, and
the Communist Youth Union office.”

On the social actions, Ms. Bay said “the city has investi-
gated, identified, and gathered drug addicts and prostitutes
for treatment and vocational training.” Brothel owners have
been handled by the law, and hotel management has been
requested to guarantee that they will not allow prostitution
activities on their premises.

On the question of assistance to prostitutes and drug
addicts, Ms Bay revealed that the city now has one drug
rehabilitation center and 40 vocational centers which also
provide a job referral service. Every year “the medical
authorities, with assistance from the police and other agen-
cies, carry out blood tests for 5,000-7,000 people in the high
risk target groups.”

Speaking on future tasks of the province in this field, Ms.
Bay believes that the education and propaganda programs
should be made more thorough along with other activities.

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

Health services and rehabilitation centers should also get
help to enhance the quality of their equipment and tech-
nology.

Premier Vo Van Kiet Chairs Meeting on Tourism,
AIDS

BK2704072893 Hanoi VNA in English 0715 GMT
27 Apr 93

[Text] Hanoi VNA April 27—The government has given
initial approval to a development programme for tourism
until the year 2000 but insisted that tourism should serve
both economic and social objectives of the country.

During a regular meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vo Van
Kiet from Wednesday to Friday last week the government
said while developing tourism into a major economic
activity, measures should be taken to ensure national secu-
rity and protect cultural traditions of the nation.

A developed tourism should not be allowed to harm social
and natural environment or serve as a channel for the
introduction of decadent culture and diseases.

The government discussed at length a report on the AIDS
situation.

It instructed the Health Ministry and the National Aids
Committee to gear the anti-AIDS programme to the fight
against drug addiction and prostitution.

Prevention and detection must be efficiently organised to
minimize the spread of the disease, the government said.

It also said that while motivating public awareness, undue
alarm should be avoided.



6 CHINA

Report Views Yunnan Province AIDS Hot Line
HK0205030693 Beijing ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE
in English 0821 GMT 1 May 93

[Text] Kunming, May 1 (CNS)—A hotline offering counsel-
ling to AIDS-infected persons has so far received 142 calls
since it began operations here earlier this year, reflecting the
spread of the fatal disease in China.

Of 938 AIDS cases known, Yunnan Province accounted for
700 of them while the range of high risk groups is enlarging.
Phone calls to the hotline show potential dangers for the
spread of the disease. The first is in extra-marital sexual
relationships with the married persons accounting for 70
percent. This risk group is growing because those involved
in such relationships tend to hide their affairs.

The second is that homosexuals make up 15.2 percent of
those telephoning the hotline. They are unwilling to receive
education on the prevention of the disease because of their
deviant sexual behaviour.

Monitoring of high risk groups is important for prevention
of the spread of the disease, but the authorities find it
difficult to carry out such monitoring.

Scientists Discover Anti-AIDS Drug in Marine Life
0W2104123793 Beijing XINHUA in English
1232 GMT 21 Apr 93

[Text] Beijing, April 21 (XINHUA)—Researchers from the
Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered an anti-AIDS
drug in an aquatic plant in the South China Sea, and the
drug appears to be effective in enhancing humoral immu-
nity in HIV-infected patients.

With the plant discovered in seas around Hainan Island, a
research group of the academy’s Research Center for Eco-
environmental Sciences has developed a new compound
known as Kappa-Selenocarrageenan (KSC) in the labora-
tory. “KSC is a kind of selenium supplement and has an
obvious effect of regulating human immunologic func-
tions,” said professor Tang Jiajun, head of the research
group.

SJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

“Animal tests and clinical observations have shown that
KSC is effective in patients with cancer and in enhancing
humoral immunity,” Professor Tang said.

Tang’s study has been published in the international journal
“BIOLOGICAL TRACE ELEMENT RESEARCH”.

In the article, Tang suggested a relationship between sele-
nium supplementation and prevention of AIDS.

“The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the cause of
acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),” the study
said. “Patients with AIDS-related complexes show a lower
T-lymphocite count. It is crucial to improve and recover the
body’s immune functions for the prevention and therapy of
AIDS.”

Tang in his study suggested that selenium deficiency has
important implications for the progression and pathogen-
esis of the disease. “Adjuvant selenium supplementation
could be of considerable benefit, especially in newly HIV-
infected patients or asymptomatic carriers and could pro-
long the disease-free interval,” the study said.

“In symptomatic patients, selenium supplementation could,
at minimum, result in an improvement of the quality of life
and should be included in nutritional support programs,”
the study said.

The result of clinical observation of physiological effects of
KSC on patients with senile diseases has shown that KSC
has an ideal biological availability and favorable physiolog-
ical effects.

“These clinical effects may be taken as an indication that
KSC could be applied in HIV-infected patients and patients
with AIDS and AIDS-related complexes,” Professor Tang
‘sald,

Tang has sold his patent technology for preparing the drug
to Brilliance Holdings Group, a Hong Kong-based interna-
tional financial firm. The Hong Kong firm has provided
Professor Tang and researchers from major Chinese medical
universities research funds amounting to 15 million yuan.

Early this week, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and
Brilliance Holdings Group started a new firm named Sino-
Foreign Tian Ci Fu Biological Engineering Co. Ltd. with a
planned investment of 100 million yuan, the new firm will
work exclusively for the research, development and mar-
keting of the new drug.



IPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

UNITED KINGDOM

Health Minister Gives AIDS, Other Statistics

93WE0337A London THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
in English 23 Mar 93 p 5

[Text] The number of cancer deaths among the under-65s
could fall by nearly a quarter by 2000 if trends over the last
5 years are maintained, Mrs Bottomley, Health Secretary,
said yesterday.

Survival rates were improving and there were increasing
signs of hope, she said in Wimbledon at the launch of health
advice leaflets produced by the Cancer Research Campaign.

“One in three people will develop cancer. One in four will
die from it. Nearly 150,000 people died from cancer in
England and Wales in 1990.”

But the news was not all bad. Of the 24 percent reduction in
deaths, she said: ‘This is a projection, not a prediction, but
it is nevertheless encouraging. Moreover, an estimated
90,000 people recovered from cancer last year.”

WEST EUROPE 2»

—The Government is unlikely to meet its target of cutting
all junior doctors’ hours to a maximum of 60 a week by
the beginning of next month, the British Medical Associ-
ation said yesterday.

Some progress had been made but there were many doctors
working well in excess of that, said Dr Edwin Borman,
Junior Doctors’ Committee chairman.

A Health Department spokesman said it was confident most
hospitals would meet the date and it would renew its efforts
with the others.

—There were 150 new cases of Aids last month, bringing the
total since figures were first collected in 1982 to 7,195, of
whom 4,464 have died, the Public Health Laboratory
Service said yesterday.

Of the new cases, six may have been caused by treatment
with blood products and five through blood or tissue
transfers.



26 WEST EUROPE

FINLAND

AIDS Vaccination Study Supported by EC Funds
93WE0354A Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT
in Finnish 28 Mar 93 p 10

(Unattributed article: “EC Vaccination Project To Support
Tampere AIDS Study”)

[Text] Tampere—The vaccination project EVA (European
Vaccine Against AIDS), which is part of the EC’s AIDS
research project, will support Prof. Kai Krohn’s work on
developing an AIDS vaccine. The support will include direct
funding and also cooperation with other European labora-
tories in developing materials needed in the research.

Krohn’s research team is operating at the Tampere Univer-
sity. In addition to Finns, it includes four researchers from
Estonia, Ukraine, and Croatia. Researchers from the United
States and England have visited the team.

Research into AIDS has been conducted in Tampere for
about 10 years. During the last 4 years the Krohn team has
concentrated on a Finnish developed live vaccine being
tested in a diluted form on macaque monkeys.

According to Krohn the monkeys were obtained from
Sweden. The second phase will involve testing the vaccine
in chimpanzees and it will not be used with humans until
the third phase. The tests with chimpanzees will probably be
conducted in either the Netherlands or the United States.
Each phase of the research will last several years.

The possibility of a live vaccine used to be considered
impossible. Recent developments are changing the opinions
of researchers. The results indicate that a nonlive vaccine
utilizing only some part of the virus does provide some
security, but is not as effective as a live vaccine.

The development of a live vaccine is based on gene tech-
nology. The virus has been genetically tamed or modified.

FRANCE

HTLV 1 Virus Detected in Donated Blood
93WE0273A Paris LE FIGARO in French 24 Feb 93 p 10

[Article by Doctor Martine Perez: “The Other Retrovirus
Detected in Blood”)

[Text] First 6-month report. More than 1.8 million donations
tested since July 1991 for HTLV 1. Forty-four subsequent
contaminations were averted.

Screening for HTLV 1, a virus of the same family as that of
AIDS, yet much less fearsome, has been obligatory in France
since 15 July 1991 in all blood donations. This measure was
taken by the public authorities at the time when the “blood
affair” took on its real dimensions of tragedy. This was in
particular a gesture to do the utmost, with regard to the
safety of blood transfusions, so that a new drama would not
occur.

At that time, the decision had been criticized since some
considered that the cost-effectiveness ratio was too high,
and the frequency of HTLV infection was very low in

SJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

continental France. The weekly epidemiological bulletin
from the Ministry of Public Health drew up the first report
and the results show that, over the first 6 months of
screening, 142 donations turned out to be positive, 76 of
which in France and 66 in the overseas departments.

The HTLV | virus is the first human retrovirus to have been
discovered by the Americans and the Japanese in 1980 [as
published]. We are dealing here with a slow virus which can
provoke two types of diseases.

On the one hand, there are leukemias and lymphomas which
occur in approximately 2 percent of the people infected
within a time frame of 15 to 20 years after contamination.
On the other hand, neurological afflictions like a type of
paralysis can also occur, but the frequency and the time
frame for these to crop up are less well known.

Especially in the Overseas Departments

This virus is raging throughout the south of Japan, the
Caribbean Islands, black Africa and certain regions of South
America in an endemic manner. In 1982, a second virus,
HTLV 2, was described, notably in the United States and
Italy. The spread of this virus is thought to be linked
basically with drug addiction.

Screening for these two viruses is mandatory for blood
donors in the Caribbean Islands and in French Guiana since
January 1989 and is recommended in continental France
for all blood donors who come from endemic disease zones.

From July to December 1991, blood transfusion establish-
ments collected 1,826,446 donations, and screening of these
donations for the HTLV ' virus was performed according
to one of the three tests currently available. All the positive
blood donations were given a confirmation test, and the
patients found to be carrying the virus were called in for
information and epidemiological questioning (age, sex,
place of birth...).

The results showed that out of the 142 positive blood
donations, 76 had been collected in continental France, one
at Reunion Island, and 65 in the Antilles-French Guiana. In
continental France, 71 donations were confirmed to be
carriers of the virus, and this gives a prevalence of 0.4 per
10,000 donations in continental France and 1.4 per 10,000
on Reunion Island. In the Antilles-French Guiana, where all
of the positive donors could not be tested again, the preva-
lence obtained by extrapolation would be 64 per 10,000.

Donors in France infected with HTLV | are mostly women
(50), and the average age is 41 years. A sizeable percentage
of them were born in an endemic disease zone (the Antilles,
French Guiana, and Africa).

As regards the 43 people carrying the virus who were born in
continental France, 27 were contaminated by heterosexual
means, for three out of the 43, their only risk factor was
blood transfusion, and for 13 of the 43, the method of
contamination could not be determined.

“Systematic screening for anti-HTLV antibodies, which has
been obligatory in France since July 1991, made it possible
to detect 71 infected units of blood during one 6-month



IPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

According to Dr Gachihi, schools have shown very few cases
of AIDS, but once the students go to colleges or to the
universities, then AIDS starts proliferating. There are very
many cases of AIDS in the universities and colleges where
safe sex is not the order of the day. Other places that have
been badly hit are the armed forces and the police force.

In Kenya, Mombasa has highest number of HIV positive
cases closely followed by Nairobi and Nyanza provinces,

Amazingly in both Nairobi and Mombasa, Dr Gachihi says
that the people most affected by the AIDS virus all originate
from Nyanza Province. KEMRI has not yet found out why
many sufferers originate in Nyanza and are keenly studying
the situation. [Passage omitted}

Kenya is at the moment in the process of importing 15
million condoms which will “hopefully” be given to the
masses. Five million have already been bought from India
and the rest will follow soon.

But, it is only through the education of the people by a
combination of politicians, educators, media and other
public organisations that we can hopefully see a decrease in
the current exponential trend of the spread of HIV and
AIDS. Even if we stemmed the spread today, we will still
lose 1 million people to this dreaded disease in the next 10
years!

More Than 34,000 AIDS Cases Reported
93WE0372A Nairobi THE KENYA TIMES in English
18 Mar 93 p 5

[Text] There are a total of 34,293 known Aids cases in
Kenya with 36 per cent of the cases coming from Coast
Province, the National Aids Control Programme team
revealed in Kakamega yesterday.

According to the officials who are on a one-week tour of
Western Province to monitor and appraise the Aids situa-
tion, Nyanza Province constitutes 24 per cent of the cases
while Western Province has 4.5 per cent.

The team said hospitals in the country were already over-
loaded by HIV positive patients who occupy between 20-30
percent of the hospital beds where they stay for longer
periods then other patients.

The team included Mr. S.J.K. Lewis, from World Health
Organisation (WHO), Mr. Mark Ondiege, head of health
education and Messrs. Meshack Ndolo and J. Ochieng’ who
are programme officers.

The officers called for intensified public education to help
prevent spread of Aids.

They called on wananchi in Western Province to take
precautions in their dealings with their counterparts across
the border.

AFRICA 3

SOUTH AFRICA

Health Department Reveals HIV Infection Rate

MB1405 142893 Johannesburg SAPA in English
1241 GMT 14 May 93

[Text] Pretoria May 14 SAPA—The Department of
National Health and Population Development revealed on
Friday [14 May] that a further 120,000 South Africans had
tested HIV-positive since 1991, raising the national total to
322,000 victims of the virus.

According to results of the third national HIV survey
amongst women attending antenatal clinics, it is estimated
that 175,380 South African women are infected, with the
number of infected babies put at 8,455.

The survey says Natal/kwaZulu forms the spearhead of a
rate of 4.77 percent HIV-positivity in October/November
1992. This is an increase from 1.6 percent at the end of 1990
and 2.87 percent in 1991.

Venda and the Cape have the lowest rates of infection,
namely 0.64 percent and 0.66 percent respectively.

However, the Transvaal shows a four-fold increase in HIV-
infection since 1990, up from 0.53 percent to 2.16 percent.

Dr. H G V Kustner, director: epidemiology of the depart-
ment, said it could safely be estimated that by the year
2,000, the number of HIV-infections will probably stand at
about four million people unless there was a drastic change
in sexual behaviour.

Dr. Kustner concluded that young South Africans were a
key target audience in the AIDS education process.

“They are the future and the group most susceptible to
infection through ignorance and unsafe sex practices. A
coordinated effort by the government, the community,
individual families and the private sector is essential to halt
the spread of this disease.”

To address this need, the department’s AIDS programme
had shifted its emphasis away from a specialist unit to a
centrally administered and community-driven programme.

Parties Concerned Over AIDS Situation in
Homelands

MB3004152393 Johannesburg Afrikaans Stereo Radio
Network in Afrikaans 1400 GMT 30 Apr 93

[Text] Opposition parties in Parliament have
expressed concern over the fact that the extent of AIDS
in the self-governing territories and the TBVC [Tran-
skei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, Ciskei] states cannot be
determined.

Mr. Mike Ellis, Democratic Party Member of Parliament for
Durban North, said it is vital that the spread of AIDS be
monitored but there is no information on the issue in the
TBVC states in particular. He said AIDS should be made a
notifiable disease in these areas.

The Conservative Party’s Dr. Harold Pauw said it does not
help merely warning people against AIDS, they must also be
made aware of the real extent of the disease.



2 AFRICA

Dr. Nyonator was speaking at a day’s education forum on
AIDS organised by the regional health education committee
which was sponsored by UNICEF for long distance drivers
and members of the GPRTU at Cape Coast on Wednesday.

Dr. Nyonator said 24 cases of positive HIV carriers were
teported by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Hospital at Agona
Swedru which makes it alarming taking into consideration
the unknown figures from the other 10 districts of the
region.

He noted that 26 percent of the recorded HIV positive cases
is made up of males with 74 percent being females while 74
percent are of people aged between 20 and 39 and three
percent between 15 and 19 years.

Dr. Nyonator stressed the need for the long distance drivers
to be cautious of themselves especially those who travel to
the neighbouring countries.

He explained that 60 percent of the number of blood which
was screened upon a request from the out-patient depart-
ment (OPD) at the Cape Coast Central Hospital were
samples taken from those who lived or living outside the
country.

He therefore, called for the immediate revitalisation and
sustenance of the advisory bodies on AIDS to tackle issues
of the deadly disease from the local to the regional levels.

He also advocated the formation of a regional consultative
committee on health comprising existing committees such
as the committee on child survival and development of the
regional and district levels.

This, he said, could be assisted with sub-committees on the
various aspect of health programmes including a regional
committee on AIDS.

KENYA

About 100,000 Have AIDS; 1 Million Carriers

93WE0376A Nairobi THE KENYA TIMES in English
4 Mar 93 p 12

[Article by Kathryn Kahiko]

[Excerpts] Since the first AIDS case was identified in Kenya
in 1984, the scourge has continued to increase unabated in
the country and now 100,000 Kenyans have the disease,
according to the Kenya Medical Research Institute
(KEMRI).

The figures differ with “the official” figures of AIDS cases
being 30,000 people. Dr George Gachihi of Kemri says that
research conducted by the institute reveals that the official
figures are far off the mark and AIDS is more widespread
than is believed.

“We have about 100,000 cases of AIDS in the country and
about one million people who have the AIDS causing
virus,” says Dr Gachihi. AIDS occur when a person is
infected with the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
which destroys the body’s immune system.

Even more alarming is the fact that about half of the people
going for general medical reasons in various hospitals have

SJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

tested positive after a routine AIDS test. A case to ponder is
in the Homa Bay Hospital where 750 out of 1,500 patients
tested positive for the virus. [Passage omitted]

The problem in Kenya is that the control measures are not
well organised. In Uganda, for example, where there are
many AIDS sufferers, the government and other private
bodies have taken AIDS seriously and have a well-organised
AIDS control-programme.

Even when the donor communities send a shipment of
condoms which are deemed to offer 95 percent protection
against AIDS, they never reach the targeted group in Kenya.
They are instead misused, sold privately or even given away
to other people, for personal gains.

The AIDS control programme in Kenya was initially a
volunteer organisation which was taken over by the Min-
istry of Health. Later, it was in the process of disintegrating
into pieces when the donors abandoned it altogether. They
could not understand why the equipment and materials they
sent which included gloves and condoms could not reach the
community.

Talking of gloves, lack of them in health centre exposes the
workers to risks of contacting AIDS from the patients. It has
been known in several hospitals that disposable gloves are
normally used again after being washed. Sometimes when
the gloves are not available the patients are handled with
bare hands. If a patient was infected with the HIV virus,
which causes AIDS then the health worker is at a very great
risk of contacting the disease.

The AIDS problem transcends and not only to few unlucky
people. It hits newborns whose mothers have passed on the
virus to their children and through dirty gloves and needles
used in hospitals especially when both are used on all the
new mothers. Some maternity hospitals also use the same
razor blade to cut the umbilical cord and these can all pass
the AIDS virus to uninfected people.

Statistics from KEMRI show that 10 percent of all the AIDS
cases are children below 2 years of age. These children will
definitely not live to be adults thus costing the country a lot
in terms of future workers.

However, the problem does not rest only on children as the
virus has also hit very hard on people who are in their
productive years. It is most common in the people aged
between 10 to 30 but also affects people in the 16-50 age
bracket. These are the most productive people in the world
and countries are losing on manpower at an alarming rate
since these are the people needed to prop the economy.

Currently the group most affected is that of prostitutes and
other sex workers. The prevalence among prostitutes is as
high as 90 percent while part-time prostitutes have a 30
percent infection rate.

On the other hand, studies show that prostitutes have taken
the disease seriously and are using condoms as a matter of
fact. It might be that in the future, the only group that will
be showing signs of reduction in AIDS prevalence {are] the
prostitutes themselves.



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Health Ministry Reports 35 AIDS Cases
AU2304132793 Prague CTK in English 1536 GMT
21 Apr 93

[Text] Prague April 21 (CTK)—The Czech Health Ministry
today announced that as of March 31, medical authorities
have detected 230 positive HIV cases in the Czech Republic
since the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
first appeared locally in 1985.

Of these, 82 cases pertained to departed foreign nationals.
Only 35 cases of full-blown aids were noted thus far,
resulting in 21 deaths, the ministry spokesperson added.

Slovakia: Only Four AIDS Cases, 37 HIV Carriers
Reported

AU2104134493 Bratislava PRAVDA in Slovak

20 Apr 93 p3

[‘‘er,lb”-signed report: “Unconfirmed AIDS Rumors”]

[Excerpts] Trebisov/Bratislava—Rumors about the inci-
dence of the insidious AIDS disease have been spreading in
and around Trebisov for several weeks. At the Institute of
Hygiene and Epidemiology in Trebisov we were told that
neither in the town nor in the entire district has a single
carrier of the virus been identified. [passage omitted]

As Danica Stanekova, doctor of natural sciences, from the
AIDS Laboratory operating under the Bratislava Institute of
Preventive and Clinical Medicine told us yesterday, 37 cases
of carriers of the HIV virus are on record in Slovakia at
present, 23 of whom are citizens of the Slovak Republic and
14 foreign nationals. Four of the HIV carriers have full-
blown AIDS. Ske said that no epidemic or increased inci-
dence has been ascertained in any specific region of Slova-
kia. Most cases have been reported in Bratislava and the
west Slovak region, which Stanekova relates to a higher
concentration of the risk groups, particularly homosexuals.
[passage omitted]

Doctor Stanekova said that all blood donors undergo com-
pulsory screening for the virus. The test must also be
undergone by all foreign nationals arriving in Slovakia for a
longer-term sojourn. [passage omitted]

HUNGARY

Scientists Create New Compound Against HIV Virus

LD1305100893 Budapest MTI in English 0949 GMT
13 May 93

[Text] Budapest, May 13 (MTI)—Hungarian researchers
have created a compound that prevents reproduction of the
HIV virus.

Professor Laszlo Otvos, deputy director of the Budapest
Central Chemistry Research Institute, reported this in an
article in Thursday’s issue of the daily “MAGYAR
NEMZET.”

EAST EUROPE 15

The agent, known as KKKI-538, was discovered while
researching a drug against Herpes. In experiments, the agent
prevented reproduction of the HIV virus for 30 days.

This agent is the first with such effectiveness. Experiments
are carried out in test tubes, but researchers believe the
chances of developing an anti-AIDS medicine are good.

However, Professor Otvos cautioned that even if the pace of
reseach were stepped up, it would still take 2 to 3 years to
develop such a medicine.

YUGOSLAVIA

AIDS Cases in Macedonia Reported

93WE0249A Skopje NOVA MAKEDONIJA
in Macedonian 14 Feb 93 p 5

[Article by L. Mincevska: “Welcome to the World of
AIDS!”]

[Text] According to official data, so far six patients have been
registered in our country, four of whom have already died;
there are also four HIV-positive cases. Among the high-risk
groups, only identified drug addicts are being kept under
control, because of lack of funds.

One evening, two single young people meet in a singles bar
in New York and, after spending several hours together,
decide to spend the night in the girl’s apartment. Waking up
the next morning, the boy finds himself alone in the apart-
ment and reads on the bathroom mirror written with
lipstick: “Welcome to the world of AIDS!”

There are no singles bars in Skopje and companionship for
singles is not all that easy to find. However, there is AIDS.
Still, unlike the situation in other countries where AIDS is
one of the most topical subjects in all the media, in our
country this plague of the 20th Century is mainly whispered
about. So far, in addition to physicians who are following
this issue, the people of Skopje usually think about AIDS
only on 7 December, which is the international day for that
disease. However, things are slowly changing, and, with
increasing frequency, talk in Skopje coffee shops turns to
claims that one model or another, or one young busi-
nessman or another in Skopje has contracted AIDS. In order
to prove the opposite, such people have started carrying
with them proof of a negative test.

AIDS Test Based on Demand

According to official data, so far there have been six people
with AIDS registered in Macedonia, four of whom have
already died, and four cases of HIV-positive. Two of the
dead were hemophiliacs, one was a homosexual and another
one a heterosexual, and two of the four positive tests are
those of drug addicts, according to Dr. Sotir Sotirovski, the
chairman of the Republic’s AIDS commission. All of them
were contaminated by this virus outside Macedonia. How-
ever, based on the formula of the World Health Organiza-
tion which claims that there are 100 to 150 cases of
contamination for each AIDS patient, it is believed that in
our country the virus is being carried by between 400 and
600 individuals. For the time being, in Macedonia the sick
and the infected are found in only five opstinas—Skopje,



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

last year and many more are thought to be infected with HIV
since thousands of people in their 20s have been diagnosed
with AIDS.

The most likely cause of most of the teenage AIDS cases and
deaths is sexual abuse of youngsters coming into or just into
their teens. It takes several years after the first infection with
HIV for full-blown AIDS to appear at this age.

The statistics, complied by National Public Health Labora-
tory, indicate that sexual contact is the most common cause
of AIDS in the 15 to 19-year age group because of the
overwhelming predominance of girls. Child rape and sexual
abuse of girls is more common than sexual abuse of boys.

Among younger children, there are almost equal numbers of
boys and girls and researchers blame transmission from an
HIV-infected mother for almost all AIDS cases in very
young children.

The trend of more women than men dying from AIDS
continues into the 20 to 29 age group although men were
starting to be hit in significant numbers and formed around
40 percent of the age groups’s AIDS deaths. Generally
women are sexually active sooner than men.

From 30 years and above the number of men dying from
AIDS exceeds that of women. For example, in the 30 to 39
age group with a total of 5,281 cases and 688 deaths in the
last 5 years, the men outnumbered women by more than 5:3.

During the same period 2,953 babies under four were
diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, with slightly more boys
than girls. This would be expected since just over half of all
babies are boys and the method of transmission, from the
mother, does not favour any particular sex.

The statistics show that of the more than 17,000 confirmed
AIDS cases studied, more than 60 percent of the patients
were aged 20 to 39. About 17 percent of the patients were
under four and around 12 percent were aged 40 to 49.

The statistics also show the spread of the disease. In 1987
just 119 confirmed cases of AIDS had been diagnosed. By
1989 the cumulative total had risen to 1,632 and by the end
of last year the cumulative total was 14,032.

AFRICA 5

Researchers consider many more people have died of AIDS-
related complications without having been formally diag-
nosed as having full-blown AIDS.

However, the “missing” cases are unlikely to significantly
affect the ratio of men and women with AIDS in each age
group nor affect the distribution statistics of AIDS cases
among age groups.

A 2-day workshop on how to bring home the dangers of HIV
and AIDS to youths was held in Harare at the weekend.

The information, education and communication officer of
the National AIDS Co-ordinating Programme, Ms Zororai
Ruth Gumbie, said at the close that immediate intervention
by non-governmental organisations the Government and
the youths themselves was necessary if the menace was to be
contained.

Considering that the incubation period the HIV infection
was up to 10 years it could be deduced that many of the
5,318 people definitely known to have died of AIDS
between 1987 and 1992 might have contracted the disease
during their teenage years.

A programme to educate the youths had to take into account
problems faced by youths during their “transition” period.
“This is made worse by changing social and sexual behav-
iour among many young people throughout the world.”

She attributed the changes to the impact of media on the
youths, urbanisation, peer pressure and the disintegration of
even the nuclear family.

“Tt is, therefore, important to make the young people aware
of the potential consequences of certain sexual behaviours
and help them develop skills and resources to avoid them.”

The workshop, whose focus was on youth in and out of
school, recommended a multi-sectoral approach to the
AIDS education programme.

Participants were drawn from the Ministry of Health and
Child Welfare, NGOs, print and electronic media, National
AIDS Council, churches, National Arts Council and youth
organisations, among others.

They also recommended the strengthening of AIDS educa-
tion in schools and that parents communicate with their
children about the disease and immoral behaviour.



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

touch with IHO workers, condom use is as low as 10
percent. The story is the same in the rest of India.

According to the ICMR, heterosexual sex accounts for 41.3
percent of India’s HIV infections, homosexuality for 0.3
percent, blood donors and intravenous drug users for 15
percent each. The rest of the seropositives include patients
on dialysis, antenatal mothers, plus recipients of blood and
blood products like haemophiliacs.

“The reality is that the HIV epidemic has moved into its
third and last phase in India,” says Dr Gilada. “The first
phase was prostitutes and blood donors getting infected.
The second phase was clients of prostitutes and blood
recipients getting infected. The third phase is now the
general population getting infected. Because homebound,
monogamous housewives are getting HIV from husbands
who visit prostitutes on the sly.”

Then there is the problem of blood transfusions. India has
1018 blood banks but one-third of their blood comes from
poor, homeless, professional blood donors who sell their
blood for money. Many of them are HIV-infected but
continue to sell their blood because most of the blood banks
don’t have kits to screen the blood. So the infected blood
ends up in the veins of unsuspecting patients needing blood
transfusions. How many persons have got infected this way
is a question too horrifying to contemplate.

The tragedy about AIDS is that it's so avoidable. You
cannot avoid malaria because an infected mosquito bites
you. Cholera and jaundice you get from infected blood. TB
or flue you get from droplets in the air. But the AIDS virus
you get primarily from unprotected sex.

One day, yes, India’s blood supply will become as safe as it
is in Europe or the US. One day our IV drug abusers may be
persuaded to give up drugs or to use clean needles. But how
do we get millions of sexually active people to practise safe
sex? The task is formidable. But awareness and education
are the only answers to AIDS.

Over 100 Soldiers Reportedly HIV Positive

93WE0346B Calcutta THE TELEGRAPH in English
27 Mar 93 p 4

[Article: “AIDS Cases Rising in Armed Forces”]

{Text] New Delhi, March 26: The incidence of AIDS is on
the rise in the defence forces with three full-blown cases and
112 HIV positive cases having been detected in the Army.

Ofa total of 148 HIV positive cases in the forces, the Navy
has as many as 32 while the Air Force has four. All these
cases have been referred to the two main Command Hospi-
tals at Delhi and Pune.

A centralised AIDS control cell has been established at Pune
to recommend remedial measures in the defence forces. The
control cell will also provide guidance and maintain surveil-
lance to combat the disease.

The spread of AIDS in the defence forces had been brought
to the government’s notice during the last parliamentary
session. There has, however, been a marked increase in the

NEAR EAST/SOUTH ASIA 1

incidence of cases since. The latest figures, placed in the
current session, have brought home the seriousness of the
issue.

Seminars were organised at various centres last year to
create awareness among defence personnel. Faced with an
increase in AIDS cases, the government has stepped up
measures to deal with the situation. Comprehensive guide-
lines covering all aspects of the disease, management, pre-
vention and disposal of HIV cases, have already been issued
to the centres.

Nine centres have been selected to carry out surveillance for
HIV infection in the armed forces.

Defense Forces Formulate Policy on AIDS
93WE0165 Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA
in English 18 Nov 92 p 5

[Text] Bombay, November 27—The three wings of the
Indian defence force—the army, navy and the air force—
were trying to formulate a common policy to combat the
AIDS menace in the force, said Vice-Admiral, Kasz Raju,
flag-officer commander-in-chief, Western Naval Command
here today.

Addressing a press conference on the eve of the navy week
celebrations here today, Vice-Admiral Raju said the navy
had, as a matter of routine, screened about 25 to 30 percent
of the total naval personnel for AIDS, and had found a few
cases of the disease.

The policy to be formulated, the Vice-admiral said, would
be in consonance with the national policy. As spreading
knowledge about the evils of the disease was the best form of
protection, the navy had organised a series of lectures for the
sailors and their families.

On the decision to induct women in the force, the vice
admiral said, already 22 women had been inducted and
were undergoing training at “INS Mandovi” in Goa.

NEPAL

Official Warns of Impending AIDS ’Cris
BK1605134293 Hong Kong AFP in English 1318 GMT
16 May 93

{Text] Kathmandu, May 18 (AFP)—A steady increase in
foreign tourists and the return home of young women from
work in Indian brothels could cause AIDS cases to skyrocket
in Nepal this decade, an AIDS prevention official said
Sunday.

“If Nepalese, particularly those living in rural and remote
areas of the country, are not alerted about AIDS, and if the
infection continues unabated, the number of people infected
by the deadly disease is likely to exceed 100,000 by 2000,”
said the official in the Nepal AIDS Prevention Pilot Project.

Officially, only 128 people in Nepal have been detected with
human immuno deficiency virus (HIV), which causes
acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which strips its
victims of immunity from disease and is invariably fatal.



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

Foreign
Broancast
INFORMATION
Senvice

REPRODUCED BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE
SPRINGFIELD, VA 22161



8 EAST ASIA

Of the 178 Singaporeans who have AIDS or the HIV virus,
119 are carriers who have not developed the symptoms of
the disease, which include drastic weight loss and fatigue.

Fifty-eight others have full-blown AIDS, while another has
an AIDS-related illness.

So far, 42 Singaporeans have died of AIDS.

While homosexual activity was the most common way the
disease was transmitted in the five years since the first case
was discovered in 1985, heterosexual activity is now the
most common mode.

Between 1985 and 1989, almost 73 percent of HIV trans-
mission was through homosexual or bisexual relations. This
dropped to 20 percent in the first 3 months of 1993.

In contrast, 75 percent of HIV infection in this period was
through heterosexual transmission.

The ministry urged those who are at risk to see their own
doctor and undergo screening tests, and assured them that
the identity of infected persons would be kept confidential.

To check the increase in the number of cases, especially
those who contract the virus through sexual contact, an AFA
spokesman said more should be done to encourage the use
of condoms.

He also said it was possible that a large proportion of people,
namely the less educated, were not getting the message
despite many government campaigns.

“I think we have to go to the ground and speak dialects or
whatever to get the message across. And, if need be, we have
to hand out condoms and pamphlets,” he said.

THAILAND
AIDS Vaccine Protein GP-160 To Be Tested in
Thailand

Debate Continues

93WE0283A Bangkok KHAO PHISET in Thai
19-25 Feb 93 pp 30, 31

[Article by Khanittha Worasiri]

[Text] News about the testing of an AIDS vaccine in
Thailand began making the headlines when Dr. Redfield,
who is with the U.S. Army, expressed the desire to test the
drug Protein GP-160 in Thailand. He first contacted the
Army Medical Department in 1990 about testing the drug
on soldiers here. In April 1991, there were reports that
Thailand was one of the six or seven countries selected by
the World Health Organization as a testing ground for an
AIDS vaccine. Six months later, at a conference on AIDS,
the United States proposed that Uganda, Rwanda, Brazil,
and Thailand serve as test sites for an AIDS vaccine.

Dr. Nat Phamonprawat, a representative for the AIDS
Vaccine Research and Development Program, Mahidol
University, said that there are several reasons for choosing
Thailand as a test site. The main reason is that it is felt that
Thailand is one of the countries where AIDS is spreading
rather rapidly, and it may continue to spread rapidly.

IJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

Another thing is that we are interested in having them
conduct studies, and we have scientists with sufficient
experience to carry this out. Another factor is that Thai-
land is a stable country. In testing this vaccine, it will take
6 months or even 1 to 2 years to evaluate the results.
Because of the fighting and economic problems in some
countries, it would not be possible to monitor the results
there. There are also several other reasons that have been
taken into consideration.

In the view of Dr. Nat, Thailand is no longer viewed as a
third-world country. Today, we have many vaccines, not
just HIV vaccines to treat AIDS. Many of the diseases are
not common to the industrialized countries. Thus, those
vaccines cannot be tested in those countries, because the
diseases aren’t common there. Why should they expose
people there to a disease unnecessarily? “I can assure you
that this is a vaccine that is desperately needed here, and
that it is safe based on scientific standards. We are not doing
things in secret. No company has hired scientists to conduct
studied without the knowledge of the Ministry of Public
Health or the Food and Drug Administration. We should
support the effort to carry out things in accord with scien-
tific principles and take advantage of this opportunity to
learn. Vaccine testing is a rather deep science.” On the other
hand, Professor Wichai Choetchiwasat, who is a professor at
Chulalongkorn University, feels that one of the reasons why
they want to test this vaccine in Thailand is that costs are
lower here than in other countries. For example, the cost of
hiring volunteers may be low or they may even do it for free,
and personnel costs will be low. Also, if the tests fail and
people sue for damages, the Thais involved probably
wouldn’t sue for very much. Stated simply, the life of a Thai
is worth less that that of a person in some other country.

Dr. Nat mentioned the benefits to be derived from testing
this AIDS vaccine:

1. This will enable us to develop the vaccine more quickly,
because it will be tested on Thais. Other places don’t want to
conduct tests. That may be because they haven’t made much
progress and don’t have people with sufficient knowledge.
Thailand has doctors and scientists with the capabilities to
work together and conduct studies. And we will gain knowl-
edge.

2. This will enable us to bargain with the companies that
produce the vaccine. If they succeed in producing an effec-
tive vaccine, we will be able to obtain the vaccine at a
reasonable price.

3. Those companies may consider producing the vaccine in
Thailand if Thais volunteer to test the drug. Those con-
cerned about the country’s interests will be in a position to
bargain if they put aside their personal interests.

But whenever there are advantages, there are always disad-
vantages, too. That is, prevention using an HIV vaccine will
be difficult, because sexual activities will increase. That’s
because people will think that taking the vaccine will protect
them. If that is the case, the chances of contracting the HIV
virus will increase. Thus, people must be made to under-
stand that the effectiveness of this vaccine is uncertain. This
is a very difficult matter. It isn’t like other vaccines.



SJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

INDONESIA

Health Official Notes Increase in AIDS, HIV Cases

BKO0905150693 Jakarta ANTARA in English 1405 GMT
9 May 93

[Text] Denpasar, May 8 (OANA/ANTARA)—Up to March
1993 there are 139 cases of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus cases in
Indonesia, said Dr. Anak Agung Gde Munin Jaya, MPH
[Master of Public Health], Head of the AIDS Information
Centre, told a workshop on religious affairs and AIDS here
on Saturday.

However, WHO has recently estimated that for each
reported case there were a 100 unreported cases in the
society, bringing the total to 13,900 cases in Indonesia, said
Dr. Anak Agung Gde Munin Jaya, who is also head of the
Community Epidemiological Research and Training Divi-
sion of Udayana University’s medical department.

The workshop featured speakers from the Muslim Council
(MUD), Hindu Association (PHDI) and the Catholic Dio-
cese in Denpasar, and was attended by local physicians and
religious leaders.

Since the first AIDS case was reported in Indonesia in 1987,
the country has actually entered the era of AIDS epidemic,
and it was also since then that the AIDS cases reported by
the ministry of health constantly increased, said Dr. Munin
Jaya.

He said the number of provinces which have reported cases
of AIDS and HIV also constantly increased.

The number of the provinces has this year increased to nine,
viz. Jakarta, Bali, East Java, Central Java, West Java, North
Sumatera, West Sumatera, West Nusatenggara and Irian
Jaya, said Dr. Munin Jaya.

He said epidemiologically the spread of the incurable and
fatal disease in Indonesia now belongs to type III, which
means that its spread was first through sexual contact with a
foreigner, both with those coming to Indonesia as tourist
and with those abroad.

Since 1992 the epidemic has also reached prostitutes, and in
1992 has even started to affect housewives because of their
high-risk spouses for having sex with HIV infected prosti-
tutes, he said.

Dr. Munin jaya said the easy spread of AIDS in Indonesia
can be attributed to various factors within the society, such
as blooming prostitution and free sex not only in urban
centres but in the villages as well, in addition to reluctance
in using condoms.

Other factors included inadequate public health care, which
involved the high frequency of giving injections with unster-
ilised syringes, lack of screening of blood donors, counsel-
ling and enlightenment on health care matters.

EAST ASIA 7

MALAYSIA

Minister Discloses 5,459 HIV Carriers Nationwide

BK2404152793 Kuala Lumpur Voice of Malaysia
in Malay 1300 GMT 24 Apr 93

[Text] The Health Ministry has allocated 218,000 ringgit for
a 3-year program to fight AIDS. Its Minister Datuk Lee Kim
Sai said the program, which begins this year, includes the
holding of seminars, advertisements in printed and elec-
tronic media, lectures in schools, and dissemination of
brochures on the danger of the disease.

He was speaking to reporters after closing a seminar enti-
tled: “The Asian region and youth’s action against AIDS” in
Kuala Lumpur today. He said that despite the low number
of AIDS incidence in Malaysia compared to other countries,
it is still necessary to pay attention to the disease. At present,
there are 83 AIDS patients and 5,459 carriers, while 51
persons have died from the disease.

SINGAPORE

178 HIV Positive; Heterosexual Activity Biggest
Factor

BK2304155793 Singapore THE STRAITS TIMES

in English 23 Apr 93 p 1

[By Brendan Pereira]

[Text] The number of Singaporeans infected with AIDS or
the HIV virus is increasing, with 20 cases detected in the
first 3 months of the year.

During the same period last year, 15 cases were reported.
The new cases bring the total number of people infected
with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to 178.

The latest statistics also show that about 95 percent of the
new victims were infected through sexual contact, mainly
with prostitutes here and overseas.

Commenting on this, a spokesman for Action for AIDS
(AFA) yesterday said the message to avoid casual sex or
reduce the risk of AIDS by using condoms was not getting
through.

He suggested a more concerted effort to reach the lesser-
educated who may not be getting the safe sex message.

Ina statement, the Ministry of Health said 19 of the 20 new
victims were men. Most of them were single. The only
woman among them was infected by her husband.

And, consistent with the profile of those in the most
sexually-active age group, 14 of the 20 were aged between 20
and 39 years. The rest were aged 40 and above.

The statement added: “The Ministry of Health wishes to
reinforce the message that the only way to avoid AIDS and
the HIV virus is to keep to one mutually faithful partner and
avoid casual sex.”

Condoms, when used properly, may protect the user from
infection, it added.



28 WEST EUROPE

produced by this method could ever be incriminated in the
transmission of the hepatitis C virus.

Nevertheless, while waiting for the centers of Lyon, Mont-
pellier, Nancy, Strasbourg, and Bordeaux to conform to the
new regulations for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals,
the minister of public health decided to “suspend distribu-
tion and recall the stocks of immunoglobulins at these
centers.” Distribution will not be suspended only for spe-
cific immunoglobulins pertaining to rabies, tetanus, hepa-
titis B, and anti-D immunoglobulins.

5. The Anti-Hemophilic Factor VIII

Within the framework of the provisional measures of the
Law dated 4 January 1993 with regard to the safety of blood
transfusions and medicines, it was decided that the anti-
hemophilic factor VIII, called monoclate P, manufactured
by the Armour Company, could henceforth be distributed
by blood-transfusion establishments. At the end of this
temporary period, this product will be able to obtain a
license to be put on the market if it is prepared on the basis
of “ethical blood” (obtained from donors who receive no
money) or “if the appropriate commission of experts deems
that the granting of an exceptional license is justified.”

As far as the recombinant factor VIII is concerned, a license
to put it on the market can be delivered only within the next
few weeks, after the advice of the proper European commis-
sion. While waiting for this advice, the importation of this
product (called le Recombinate) is authorized “as of today”
in France in view of its prescription. The same goes for the
product called Hemophil M.

6. Screening

Within the next few days, every physician will receive a
letter from Mr. Kouchner giving information about the new
obligations regarding prenatal and prenuptial screening for
HIV and the recommendations concerning screening for
HCV. As far as dental surgeons are concerned, they will also
be informed about the rules of hygiene to be observed in
order to avoid all risk of transmission of any one of these
two viruses.

[Box, p 8]

From 80,000 to 180,000 Seropositives

As of 31 December 1992, 22,939 cases of AIDS had been
reported in France since the beginning of the epidemic.
Among these cases, the percentage of deaths is thought to be
60 percent. From 1991 to 1992, the rate of growth in the
number of cases was 31 percent among women and 28
percent among men. Two years ago, a report drawn up by
the National Agency for AIDS Research had estimated the
number of people living in France who are HIV-positive to
be between 80,000 and 180,000.

According to hospital administrations, there will be in 1993
a total of almost | million days spent in the hospital by
patients infected with the AIDS virus (i.e., a rise of 10
percent in comparison with 1992). The three French regions
affected the most are the Ile-de-France (1,051 cases per
million inhabitants), the Antilles-Guiana with 1,017 cases,

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

and the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur with 732 cases.
Throughout 1992, the highest rates of increase were
recorded in Midi-Pyrenees (42 percent) and the Antilles-
Guiana (39 percent) regions.

IRELAND

Statistics Show AIDS Toll Rise to 143
93WE0344 Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT in English
28 Feb 93 p3

[Text] A total of 143 people have now died of AIDS in
Ireland, according to the latest statistics published by the
Department of Health. Intravenous drug abusers account
for 52 cases, homosexuals/bisexuals 47 and heterosexuals,
15.

Eighteen new HIV-positive cases were reported during the
2-month period up to last Friday, said a spokesman at the
Department.

President Told Latest Statistics on AIDS
93WE0404A Dublin IRISH INDEPENDENT
in English 30 Mar 93 p7

[Article by Eugene Moloney: “President Told of AIDS
Deaths”)

[Text] President Mary Robinson was told yesterday how six
babies whose parents were intravenous drug users had died
in Ireland from AIDS or a related condition.

Mrs Robinson spoke of the importance of self help when she
met the Body Positive group which had commissioned a
study into the needs of those diagnosed as being HIV
positive or having full blown AIDS.

Mr Hayden said the President was well informed on the
Irish situation and had asked also how those diagnosed as
HIV positive or those living with AIDS were coping.

He said the most recent official figures of 1,313 people who
had tested as HIV positive did not include 68 new cases
diagnosed since January last.

The official Department of Health figures for AIDS related
deaths are made up of 52 intravenous drug users; 47
homosexuals or bisexuals; 15 heterosexuals, 13 haemophil-
iacs; six babies born to intravenous drug users; six homo-
sexual/bisexual intravenous drug users and four undeter-
mined cases.

According to the figures for the period until March, 1993,
316 people have developed AIDS including 33 heterosex-
uals in addition to one baby born to a heterosexual mother.

The remainder of cases includes 129 intravenous drug users,
111 homosexuals or bisexuals, 22 people living with haemo-
philia, eight babies born to intravenous drug users, seven
homosexual or bisexual intravenous drug users and five
undetermined cases.

The Body Positive group presented the President with a red
ribbon to symbolise the spread of the disease together with
a study of the needs of people diagnosed as being HIV
positive or having full blown AIDS.



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

period. Fourteen units would have been set aside because of
other virological markers. For the other 57 units, 13 would
have been excluded because they came from donors origi-
nating from endemic disease zones, and these donations
were given a targeted screening,” the authors of this work
concluded.

“Consequently, the implementation of systematic screening
made it possible to avoid at least 44 contaminations by
HTLV | in recipients during this period of 6 months.”

Total Social Security Coverage for AIDS Patients

93WE0273B Paris LE MONDE in French
28 Feb 93-1 Mar 93 p8

{Article by Franck Nouchi: “Everyone Infected With the
AIDS Virus Will Be Fully Covered by Social Security”)

[Text] A set of measures announced by Mr. Bernard Kouchner.

During a press conference, Mr. Bernard Kouchner, minister
of public health and humanitarian action, announced on
Friday, 26 February, that the government had decided to
“offer the possibility of being fully covered by Social Secu-
tity to every person whose blood is HIV-positive.” He made
public several measures intended to improve the safety of
blood transfusions.

By deciding to assume 100 percent responsibility for all
seropositive people infected with the AIDS virus, the gov-
ernment has therefore decided to follow the recommenda-
tions included in the Dormont Report, the contents of
which we had disclosed a few days ago (LE MONDE of 24
February). At the same time, the government renounced the
claim that it would assume 100 percent responsibility only
for those seropositive persons whose T4 lymphocyte count
was less than 500 per cubic milimeter, as had been planned
at first as the result of an inter-ministerial arbitration.

Mr. Kouchner took advantage of the opportunity to
announce a series of measures intended to beef up preven-
tion and the coverage for persons contaminated by the
AIDS virus or hepatitis C virus. These measures pertain to
the following six points:

1. Sefety in Blood Transfusions

A decree to be published at the end of March will set forth
the following obligations: to inform the patient about every
transfusion to be performed; to keep in the file a record of
every transfusion procedure; and the obligation of the
transfusion establishments to keep a record, including the
identification of the recipient of the blood product which
they delivered. Thus, it will no longer be possible, as
happened frequently in the past, to receive a transfusion
without one’s knowledge during a surgical operation and, at
the same time, to be unaware of the possible risk of having
been infected.

Moreover, in order to improve the selection of donors,
blood-transfusion establishments will receive in a few
weeks a list of typical questions which should compulsorily
be asked of each donor by a physician before every
donation. The choice of collection sites will be carefully
re-examined. In addition to collections in prison—the ban

WEST EUROPE 2

on which was repealed by an order dated 10 February
1993—collection sites not allowing an interview of suffi-
cient quality between the physician and the donor will be
abandoned “immediately.”

In conformity with the advice given by the National Agency
for AIDS Research, the Consultative Commission for Blood
Transfusions, and the Retrovirology Group of the National
Blood Transfusion Society, the government decided after all
not to implement any screening procedures for the P24
antigen in blood donations as had been planned at one time
(3 February issue of LE MONDE).

2. The Definition of AIDS

The Minister of Public Health decided to modify the
definition of AIDS. In contrast to the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) in Atlanta, which has included biological
criteria (number of CD4 lymphocytes less than 200,
including in the absence of any pathology), the French
public-health authorities, in their new definition, simply
decided to add three new opportunistic infections (pulmo-
nary tuberculosis, recurring pneumonias, and invasive
cancer of the neck) to the previous definition.

Recalling that the associations fighting against AIDS are
very divided on whether or not it is advisable to define
AIDS on the basis of biological criteria, Mr. Kouchner
explained that “the choice of the United States to adopt
biological criteria is based particularly on considerations
linked with the method for providing coverage” to patients
infected with the AIDS virus and which “are not transpos-
able to France.” Furthermore, Mr. Kouchner thinks that by
adopting biological criteria, “the epidemiological follow-up
might wind up being sidetracked.”

3. Hepatitis C

Just as he had decided to proceed with the research on
persons who had received blood transfusions and who were
likely to have been contaminated by the AIDS virus without
their knowledge (LE MONDE of 16 December), the min-
ister of public health decided to act in the same way for
transfused patients possibly contaminated by the hepatitis C
virus. Consequently, a combined HIV-HCV screening will
be offered to persons who have received blood transfusions.

Moreover, Social Security will bear the costs for self-
transfusion techniques before and during an operation. The
screening test for the hepatitis C virus will be made avail-
able at anonymous and free-of-charge screening centers.
This same screening test for HCV will be fully covered in
urban areas.

4, Immunoglobulins and Hepatitis C

Mr. Kouchner indicated that the Ministry’s attention had
recently been focused on the possible variations in the
manufacturing process (Cohn Oncley type) for immunoglo-
bulins. Following an inspection carried out in December
1992 at six fractionation centers, it appeared that only two
of them—Paris and Lille—met the required conditions.
Having said this, at the same time, no immunoglobulin



4 AFRICA

ZAMBIA

President Warns of AIDS Crisis Seriousness

93WE0374D Lusaka TIMES OF ZAMBIA in English
18 Mar 93 p 1

[Excerpt] Government has allocated about K220m in this
year’s Budget for the campaign against AIDS now threat-
ening to wipe out productive citizens, President Chiluba
said yesterday.

“We are heading to a Zambia with no people, therefore,
young people must join in the war against AIDS,” the
President said at Kara counselling centre during a con-
ducted tour.

Mr. Chiluba said Zambians should not treat the AIDS
problem lightly and prayed to God to “come and heal this
nation” as human efforts alone fell far short in tackling the
most daunting pandemic.

The killer disease had wrecked havoc among the 18 to 50
age group.

In a passionate appeal to keep away from social mischief,
the President called for concerted efforts to combat AIDS.

He paid tribute to Kara counselling for spearheading educa-
tional campaigns and to Barclays Bank for coming up with an
elaborate AIDS policy for its employees and the church.

At least 800 HIV victims had been counselled at Kara house
between March last year and last month and the centre had
published numerous educational publications on AIDS to
primary school pupils and adults.

The President implored couples to be faithful to one another
and warned against casual sex saying even the condom was
not the best solution to guard against contracting AIDS.

Charts at the Kara House showed that the cases of HIV
victims were higher among young females because of the
“sugar daddy syndrome.”

There were 24,619 HIV victims across the country with the
highest number of cases in Lusaka (7,289) and the lowest in
central Province (625).

But medical experts say the figure could be much higher as
there was “gross under-reporting” of cases especially in
tural areas.

The President later during the day launched the social sector
rehabilitation programme at Matero clinic where he called
on members of the public to guard against vandalism.
[passage omitted]

ZIMBABWE

Expert Estimates 55,000 Full-Blown AIDS Cases
93WE0381A Harare THE HERALD in English
17 Feb 93 p 5

[Article: “Expert Estimates 55,000 Cases of Full-Blown
AIDS”]

[Text] There are about 55,000 cases of full-blown AIDS in
Zimbabwe.

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

Speaking to health programme facilitators in the transport
industry at a 3-day workshop in Harare, the co-ordinator of
the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Everisto
Marowa, said because of the constraints faced in reporting,
it was estimated that there were 55,000 instead of the
reported 28,654 full-blown AIDS cases.

Although he could not specify the number of people with
HIV, it was estimated that there were over 800,000.

“In Zimbabwe a cumulative total of 18,894 full-blown AIDS
cases have been reported as of end of December 1992.

“In view of the constraints in reporting, we estimate that
around 55,000 cases of AIDS have already occurred in this
country with hundreds of thousands of people carrying the
AIDS virus,” he said.

According to the latest report, there were 1,849 reported
AIDS cases between September and December last year
with the highest figures in the 20 to 29-year and 30 to
39-year age groups.

Harare registered the highest figure of 459 cases followed by
Bulawayo which had 241 cases.

There were 4,974 AIDS-related cases during the same
period and in the 20 to 39-year age group there were 1,465
cases and in the 30 to 39-year age group, 1,240.

Harare also registered the highest with 1,481 cases and was
also followed by Bulawayo which had 749.

There is no possibility of a person contracting HIV through
mosquito bites.

“HIV attacks human beings only. It does not want to attack
a small mosquito because it cannot live in the mosquito.
The virus dies immediately because a mosquito is not a
conducive environment,” Dr Marowa said.

“From the observation in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zaire
which have a lot of mosquitoes, it has been noted that there
are two peaks, in the 0-5 years and the sexual active people
between 15-45 years ago groups.

“How can we explain the two peaks, if we do try? Are we
saying whom mosquitoes like to bite? Looking at this alone
we can rule out the possibility of transmission through
mosquitoes,” he said.

In dismissing the possibilities, Dr Marowa said there was no
way that the mosquito proboscis could carry enough con-
taminated blood to infect a person.

He said even with an injection needle, the chances of
contracting the virus were “very minimal.”—Ziana

Statistics of AIDS Among Youth Reviewed

93WE0381B Harare THE HERALD in English
8 Mar 93 p 1

[Article: 420 Teenagers Diagnosed With AIDS by Last
Year”)

[Text] More than 420 teenagers, over 90 percent of them
girls, have been diagnosed with full-blown AIDS by the end of



18 LATIN AMERICA

DOMINICA

National Committee Releases AIDS Statistics
FL2804143593 Bridgetown CANA in English
1358 GMT 28 Apr 93

[Text] Roseau, Dominica, April 28, CANA—An additional
seven persons in Dominica have been diagnosed as carriers

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

of the HIV virus which causes AIDS, health authorities said.
The National AIDS Committee said the new cases pushed
up the number of HIV positive persons on the island to 80
from 73 a few months ago. There are 55 men carrying the
virus and 25 women. The AIDS committee also reported
four persons were currently being treated for full-blown
AIDS which has already killed more than 20 persons here.



24 CENTRAL EURASIA

Ukraine: Center for Preventing, Combating AIDS
Reports Statistics

AU2004124093 Kiev URYADOVYY KURYER

in Ukrainian 13 Apr 93 p 8

[Unattributed report: “AIDS Recognizes No Borders”)

[Text] According to the data reported by the Ukrainian
Center for Preventing and Combating AIDS:

Between 1987 and January 1993, 303 HIV-positive persons,
including 191 foreigners and 112 Ukrainian citizens, were
discovered in Ukraine.

There are 15 children among the Ukrainian citizens infected
with AIDS. Nine of them contracted the disease from their
mothers, one child during the transfusion of blood that had
been tainted with HIV, and five more during medical
procedures.

There are 12 persons with full-blown AIDS, among them
five children. Nine persons—four children and five adults—
have died.

Carriers of the virus were found in 21 Ukrainian oblasts, in
the Crimean Republic, in Kiev, and in Sevastopol. The
worst situation regarding AIDS was revealed in the fol-
lowing oblasts: Odessa (43 cases), Donetsk (9), Dnipro-
petrovsk (6), Kharkiv (6), Transcarpathia (5), and in the city
of Kiev (18). There are also cases of AIDS in other regions,

A steady intensification of the epidemic process has been
noted. Thus, starting in 1989, the number of HIV-positive
citizens of Ukraine has been increasing from year to year: 16
in 1989; 19 in 1990; 21 in 1991; and 30 in 1992.

The main channels for transferring the infection are sexual
(66 percent), from mother to child (0.8 percent), during
medical procedures (7.1 percent), and during blood transfu-
sions (4.5 percent). In 14.3 percent of the cases, the cause of
infection could not be established.

Persons in the age group between 20 and 39 years prevail
among carriers of the AIDS virus.

During the period between 1987 and 1992, HIV-positive
persons were most frequently revealed among those who
had had sexual contacts with AIDS sufferers or irresponsible
sexual relations and also among persons with venereal
diseases, but rarely among blood donors or pregnant
women.

During the first quarter of the current year, eight HIV-
positive persons were registered. Three of them were found
in the Crimea, one in the city of Kiev, one in Kiev Oblast,
one in Kirovohrad Oblast, one in Nikolayev Oblast, and one
in Chernivtsi Oblast.

Long Way To Go Informing Population
93WE0345A Stockholm DAGENS NYHETER
in Swedish 2 Apr 93 p 8

[Article by Kerstin Hellbom: “A Social Catastrophe”—first
paragraph is DAGENS NYHETER introduction]

[Text] In Latvia, to have it known that you are sick with
AIDS or are HIV-positive means losing your job, family,

SIPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

friends—your whole existence falls apart. And yet, Latvia is
one of the countries in East and Central Europe which has
made the most strides in changing its attitudes about the
HIV-infected.

Riga has therefore been chosen for the World Health Orga-
nization’s conference “Investing in Health,” which began
today. Guidelines will be drawn up for how the spreading of
the infection can be stopped in East and Central Europe.

In Latvia today, there are only three people officially
recognized with AIDS and 12 HIV-positive individuals.

Only a Third

“All the AIDS cases have been identified, but we believe
that we are aware of only about 30 percent of the HIV-
positives. The spreading of the infection so far is very small
in Latvia,” said Juris Zalcmanis, who is in charge of Latvia’s
national AIDS program.

He is also the director of Riga’s AIDS center, ensconced in
a 101-year-old hopital for infectious diseases on the edge of
the city. When DAGENS NYHETER came calling, all of the
HIV-positives stayed out of sight. None of them have
volunteered to be interviewed because to be “revealed”
would mean social catastrophe.

“The feeling in Latvia is that only very despicable people
become infected with HIV. Prostitutes, drug addicts, homo-
sexuals. Anyone who is infected has done something that is
not acceptable.”

Enormous Ignorance

“Ignorance about how one becomes infected is enormous
and with it there is an unwarranted fear of the infected. I can
believe that half the population still thinks that you can be
infected by being in the same room with an HIV-positive.
Doctors and dentists earlier refused to treat HIV-positives,
but we are begining to see a change in this,” said Zalcmanis.

He showed us around the infectious diseases hospital, a very
rundown place with grim brick buildings and provisional
barracks which together hold 360 beds.

Breeding Grounds for Bacteria

In one room measuring perhaps 3 by 5 meters lie seven men.
with hepatitis A, jaundice, which they contracted through
unboiled tap water. In another room, women with salmo-
nella from eating bad food. In one room, there is a 15-
year-old girl with bruised infected skin all over her body—
measles. She was apparently vaccinated at age seven, but the
vaccine—from Moscow—was worthless. Today Latvia gets
its measles vaccine from France.

During the tour around the hospital compound, we had to
hop over large pools of water which Zalcmanis pointed out
and said were full of all kinds of viruses and bacteria. The
sewer system had broken down and there was no money to
Tepair it.

Inside the AIDS center, a large, well-scrubbed unit with a
staff of 25, Zalcmanis proudly showed off all of the labels,



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993 3 AIDS

INDIA

AIDS Cases Said Rapidly Increasing /THE STATESMAN, 6 Apr 93] ..
AIDS Termed ‘Time Bomb Ticking Away’ in India

[Arvind Kala; THE TELEGRAPH, 14 Apr 93]
Over 100 Soldiers Reportedly HIV Positive /TH
Defense Forces Formulate Policy on AIDS {THE TIMES OF INDIA, 18 Nov 9.

NEPAL

Official Warns of Impending AIDS ’Crisis’ /AFP, 16 May 93]
PAKISTAN

AIDS Cases Continue To Increase
Cases Double in Less Than On
AIDS Cases Spreading /THE PAKISTAN TIMES, 12 Apr 9.
170 Cases Reported /DAWN, 7 Apr 93] ...

CENTRAL EURASIA

Ukraine: Center for Preventing, Combating AIDS Reports Statistics
[URYADOVYY KURYER, 13 Apr 93].
Long Way To Go Informing Population /K. Hellbom; DAGENS NYHETER, 2 Apr 93] .
Kamchatka AIDS Center Begins Free Distribution of Condoms
[NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA, 30 Mar 93]

WEST EUROPE
FINLAND

AIDS Vaccination Study Supported by EC Funds /HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 28 Mar 93] ...
FRANCE

HTLV | Virus Detected in Donated Blood /Matine Perez; LE FIGARO, 24 Feb 93) .....
Total Social Security Coverage for AIDS Patients
[Franck Nouchi; LE MONDE, 28 Feb-1 Mar 93] ..

IRELAND

Statistics Show AIDS Toll Rise to 143 {IRISH INDEPENDENT, 28 Feb 93]
President Told Latest Statistics on AIDS
[Eugene Moloney; IRISH INDEPENDENT, 30 Mar 93] ....

UNITED KINGDOM

Health Minister Gives AIDS, Other Statistics /THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 23 Mar 93]



SIPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

about 300,000 people with the AIDS virus. During the next
8 years, this number is expected to increase to 4 million. All
of these people will die from AIDS. [passage omitted]

AIDS Figures, Public Attitudes
93WE0317A Bangkok SIAM RAT in Thai 23 Feb 93 p 16

[Excerpt] On 22 February, Dr. Praphan Phanuphak, an
AIDS expert who works at the Chulalongkorn Hospital,
talked with a SIAM RAT reporter about the present number
of AIDS victims in Thailand. He said that there are about
1,500-1,600 people with full-blown cases of AIDS and about
2,000 people with AIDS-related symptoms. Besides this,
nationwide, there are about 500,000 people who are HIV
Positive and who can transmit the AIDS virus.

Dr. Praphan said that the reason why AIDS is spreading so
rapidly is that people don’t know the facts and they aren’t
interested. Some people are careless. For example, some
people don’t fear AIDS but they do fear denying themselves
pleasures. Others believe in astrology and don’t believe that
they will contract AIDS. Others think that they won't
contract AIDS because they are physically strong. Some
think that having sex a few times won't hurt them. And
others think that because their sexual partner isn’t a prosti-
tute, that person won’t have the AIDS virus. [passage
omitted]

AIDS Situation in Chiang Rai Reported

221 AIDS-Related Deaths Since 1988
BK1705012793 Bangkok THE NATION in English
17 May 93 p AS

[Text] Two hundred and twenty one people have died of
Aids in Chiang Rai since 1988 and one-in-five diagnosed
Aids sufferers in Thailand lives in the northern province,
according to figures released there.

There were 756 people with full-blown Aids in the province
as of April 30, acting provincial health chief Dr Chamnan.
Hansuthiwetkun said yesterday.

Nationally, 3,628 people are registered with full-blown Aids,
he said.

Chamnan said there are 10,000 people in Chiang Rai known
to be infected with the HIV virus, which leads to Aids,
compared with 8,000 a year ago.

Most Aids patients are farmers, he said.

Chamnnan said most patients in Chiang Rai stay at home
and are visited by doctors who advise their relatives on how
to take care of them. Chiang Rai hospitals do not have the
space for them, he said.

Chiang Rai Witthaya Nukhro Hospital has the highest
number of Aids patients in the province with 80. More than
30 field beds have been brought in to provide for them.

They have not been separated from other patients for fear of
claims of discrimination. In some cases other patients did
not know that their neighbour was infected with Aids,
Chamnan said.

EAST ASIA 11

Provincial authorities had earlier worked out a project to
build a hospital exclusively for Aids patients, but later
scrapped the plan.

Any Aids patients whose condition improves are discharged
and given advice on how to take care of themselves at home
he said.

AIDS Cases Profiled

93WE0319A Bangkok MATICHON in Thai 16 Feb 93
pp 1, 29

[Excerpts] [passage omitted] Mr. Yingyong Thaoprasoet, the
deputy director of the Chiang Rai Ratchaphat Institute, was
one of those involved in researching the “the cultural crisis
and the lifestyles of young women, a study of the effects of
development on the countryside in the North” being done
by the Office of the National Commission on Culture. He
found that some young girls in sixth grade in Maechan
District of Chiang Rai Province and Dokkhamtai District of
Phayao Province dreamed of becoming prostitutes. [passage
omitted]

Mr. Yingyong said that in the past the statistics for those
with AIDS in Chiang Rai Province were lower than the
statistics for Chiang Mai Province because the statistics for
Chiang Mai Province were more developed - more organi-
zations had come to help in Chiang Mai Province unlike
Chiang Rai Province. Formerly 4 percent of the pregnant
women coming for blood tests were found to have AIDS, but
now this figure had reached 6 percent. In addition it was
found that these women with the AIDS virus were the wives
of ordinary farmers and were not from groups at risk. From
questioning them it was learned that when these farmers had
nothing to do, they worked in construction in the town of
Chiang Rai, where there was a great deal of construction.
They contracted AIDS then because there regularly was
Prostitution at the construction sites. [passage omitted]

Dr. Prayun Kunason, the Director of the Department of
Communicable Disease Control of the Ministry of Public
Health, disclosed something similar: [the statistics] for the
contraction of AIDS in Chiang Rai were only estimates, and
the actual numbers might be larger. In addition the esti-
mates were based on small samples so that errors were very
possible.

Dr. Prayun said that the statistics for AIDS came from
many units and so it was not possible to be certain of the
figures. For example if 100 people were to come for exam-
inations and 50 were found with AIDS that would be
equivalent to 50 percent. But if 1,000 were to come, there
would not be 500 people found with AIDS. The discovery of
that incidence of AIDS among pregnant women was not real
because the latest data indicated that pregnant women had
an incidence of only 3 percent out of 100 people who came
to be examined. This was a decline from June 1992 when
the figure was 6 percent.

He said that during the latest check for those with AIDS in
Chiang Rai Province in January 1993 it was found that of
the 839 people who received [as published] blood, 33 had
the AIDS virus or 3.93 percent; of 17 drug addicts, seven
had the virus or 41.2 percent; of 100 pregnant women, three



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

Adding this number to the total figure nationwide, “the
National Committee for AIDS Prevention and Control
revealed that by 16 April, the total HIV-positive cases
discovered was 290, which was made up of 215 Vietnamese
and 75 foreigners.”

The announcer also said “the recent test result in Nha Trang
proved that drug addicts were the ones who spread AIDS.”

31 HIV-Carriers Detected in Khanh Hoa
BK2704075793

[Editorial Report] Hanoi Voice of Vietnam in Vietnamese
at 1430 GMT on 19 April carried an item under one minute
in length on the number of HIV-carriers in Khanh Hoa
Province.

The announcer said: “medical authority of Khanh Hoa
Province discovered 31 HIV-carriers including two females.
This was the first time HIV-positive cases were detected in
Khanh Hoa, and all of the HIV-carriers were drug addicts
who were inmates of Tinh Thuong (Love) Rehabilitation
Camp in Khanh Hoa.”

More HIV-Carriers in Khanh Hoa
BK2804101493 Hanoi Voice of Vietnam Network
in Vietnamese 0500 GMT 27 Apr 93

[Text] According to the AIDS Prevention and Control
Committee of Khanh Hoa Province, 19 HIV-positive cases
have been discovered recently. So far there are 50 HIV-
carriers in Khanh Hoa, all of them drug users.

The AIDS Prevention and Control Committee of Khanh
Hoa is urgently carrying out measures to prevent AIDS from
spreading, especially in the area of Nha Trang city. Other
responsible organs of Khanh Hoa Province are also inten-
sifying measures to control the target groups of drug users,
prostitutes, restaurants, and hotels in order to prevent the
disease from spreading.

Radio Gives HIV Figures for Southern Areas
BKI705071493

[Editorial Report] The following is a compilation of reports
on epidemiological developments in Vietnam carried by
Hanoi Voice of Vietnam in Vietnamese, unless indicated
otherwise, between 11 and 15 May. Broadcast times in
GMT are given in parentheses at the end of each item.

11 May

The situation of aids infection in Vietnam is undergoing
serious changes. As of 3 May, the number of Vietnamese
infected with the HIV virus had reached 301. Of these,
two-thirds have contracted the virus through intravenous
injection of drugs and sexual contact with prostitutes. (1000
GMT)

Hue city has, for the first time, discovered five cases of HIV
infection. It is reported that all the five cases have been
found to involve drug addicts. (1100 GMT)

The Preventive Medical Center of Ho Chi Minh City has
just discovered another 19 cases of HIV infection, bringing

EAST ASIA 13

to 318 the total number of HIV carriers in the southem
provinces. Ho Chi Minh City alone accounts for up to 230
cases. (2300 GMT)

13 May

Two persons in Tien Giang province have tested positive for
HIV. As an immediate step, Tien Giang is reorganizing its
aids control commission which includes personnel from the
public health service and other sectors concerned along with
intensifying propaganda activities among the public to
make them understand the danger of this frightful disease.
(1430 GMT)

14 May

The Preventive Medical Center of Ho Chi Minh City has
reported 62 more HIV carriers in tests conducted from 8 to
11 May. So far, the number of HIV-positive cases has
increased to 375 in the south and 377 in the whole country.
Ho Chi Minh City alone has 279 cases. (1000 GMT)

15 May

On 11 May, the Preventive Medical Center of Ho Chi Minh
City diagnosed 50 HIV cases. In addition, the Pasteur
Institute detected two other cases, lifting the total HIV-
positive cases in Ho Chi Minh City to 265.

Nationwide, so far there have been 377 HIV-carriers iden-
tified, which was made up by 343 drug users, five prosti-
tutes, 17 sexually transmitted cases, and the rest were
infected by other causes.

The announcer also revealed that the youngest HIV-carrier
was a 16 year old teenager, and so far seven people from Ho
Chi Minh City had died from AIDS. (2300 GMT)

Haiphong, Nam Ha Intensify AIDS Control
Measures
BK0405090393

[Editorial Report] Hanoi Voice of Vietnam Network at
1100 GMT on 3 May carries a one minute item on HIV-
Positive cases detected in Nam Ha Province.

The announcer says: “Together with one HIV-positive case
detected in 1992, medical authorities of Nam Ha Province
have discovered two more HIV-positive cases early this
year, bringing the total to three known HIV-carriers in the
province. All three are male.”

The Nam Ha Committee for Prevention and Control of
AIDS has launched three measures to curb the spread of
AIDS:

1, an education campaign to help cadres and people fully
understand the dangers of AIDS,

2. intensifying the attack on drug addiction and prostitu-
tion, an

3. allocating an adequate budget for these programs.
Hanoi Voice of Vietnam Network at 0500 GMT on 3 May

carries a seven minute recorded interview with Ms. Nguyen
Thi Bay, deputy chairman of Haiphong people’s committee,



IPRS-TEP-93-012

21 May 1993 2 AIDS
THAILAND
AIDS Vaccine Protein GP-160 To Be Tested in Thailand .. ~ 8

Debate Continues /Khanittha Worasiri; KHAO PHISET, 19-25 Feb 93] 8
AIDS Control Committee Approves Vaccine Experiment [Bangkok radio, 23 Apr 93] .. 10
Doctors Predict AIDS Trends, Facility Shortages /MATICHON, 14 Feb 93] . 10
AIDS Figures, Public Attitudes /SIAM RAT, 23 Feb 93] 1
AIDS Situation in Chiang Rai Reported .... 11
221 AIDS-Related Deaths Since 1988 /THE NATION, 17 May 93] .. I
AIDS Cases Profiled /MATICHON, 16 Feb 93] ... ll
Cooperation with Burma on AIDS, Malaria [THAI RAT, 23 Feb 93] . 12
AIDS Budget Reallocation /NAEO NA, 22 Feb 93] .... 12
VIETNAM
Radio Reports Nationwide Figures on HIV-Carriers 12
290 HIV-Positive Cases [Hanoi radio, 19 Apr 93) 12
31 HIV-Carriers Detected in Khanh Hoa /Hanoi radio, 19 Apr 93] .. 13
More HIV-Carriers in Khanh Hoa [Hanoi radio, 27 Apr 93] ..... 13
Radio Gives HIV Figures for Southern Areas [Hanoi radio, 11-15 May 93] 13
Haiphong, Nam Ha Intensify AIDS Control Measures [Hanoi radio, 3 May 93] .. 13
Premier Vo Van Kiet Chairs Meeting on Tourism, AIDS [VNA, 27 Apr 93) .... 14
EAST EUROPE
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Health Ministry Reports 35 AIDS Cases /CTK, 21 Apr 93] ...... 15
Slovakia: Only Four AIDS Cases, 37 HIV Carriers Reported /PRAVDA, 20 Apr 93] 15
HUNGARY
Scientists Create New Compound Against HIV Virus /MTI, 13 May 93] 15
YUGOSLAVIA
AIDS Cases in Macedonia Reported /L. Mincevska; NOVA MAKEDONIJA, 14 Feb 93] 15
LATIN AMERICA
BERMUDA
AIDS Prevention Campaign for Schools Planned CANA, 14 May 93] 17
CUBA
Alarcon Discusses Importance of Fighting AIDS
[Ricardo Alarcon interview; Havana radio, 14 May 93] .... 17
DOMINICA
National Committee Releases AIDS Statistics /CANA, 28 Apr 93] 18
NEAR EAST/SOUTH ASIA
PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
Doctor Assails AIDS Policy in Territories
[Ilyas Nasrallah; AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT, 30 Mar 93] ..... 19



n NEAR EAST/SOUTH ASIA

However, as those cases were detected among only 85,000
blood donations, the real number is thought to be much
higher.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed
out that a sample survey conducted by the World Health
Organization in Nepal projected the number of HIV cases in
Nepal at 5,000.

Many young Nepalese girls are lured into Indian brothels by
false promises that they will be offered good jobs or work in
that country’s film industry and often return home with
HIV or AIDS, the official said, adding that foreign tourists
also spread the virus.

Because many of the foreigners are on treks to see the
Himalayas, that has helped AIDS gain a foothold in many
remote areas, he added.

Dr. Balkrishna Subedi, speaking at an anti-AIDS seminar in
southwestern Nepal on Sunday, said the country’s anti-
AIDS campaign had to be launched on “a war footing” if
Nepal was to avoid a major AIDS crisis.

PAKISTAN

AIDS Cases Continue To Increase

Cases Double in Less Than One Year
93WE0332A Karachi DAWN in English 4 Mar 93 p 3

[Article: “AIDS Cases Double in 10 Months”]

[Text] Karachi, March 3: The officially recognised number
of HIV cases in Pakistan has doubled from 67 to 120 during
the last 10 months, according to the statistics released by the
National AIDS Control Programme.

Although the AIDS programme guards the identities and
histories of these cases, it is believed that more than 20
percent of these cases are avowedly homosexual, but there is
no way of knowing how many of these are really bisexual.

As far as the threat of AIDS in Pakistan is concerned, the
statistics may not seem as frightening as figures available on
other Asian countries, but health workers believe that offi-
cially acknowledged AIDS cases are only a fraction of the
actual figure.

About 24 government-run AIDS laboratories have screened
only about 2,50,000 people out of a population that is well
over 110 million now.

The first four HIV positive cases detected in Pakistan
included one gay male, one bisexual male and his wife and
child, according to a report published in the World AIDS
news magazine published from London by the Panos
institute.

It said that state-run radio and TV, which have made no
attempt to educate the public about AIDS in Pakistan.

Although medical experts say that the data is too scant to
form an opinion 55 out of the 130 HIV cases have been
detected in the NWFP [North-West Frontier Province].

SJPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

There are various factors which might explain the high
number of cases in NWFP. Segregation of the sexes is the
most stringent in the province.

Perhaps another reason for the seemingly higher proportion
of AIDS in the NWFP is that many foreigners, including
journalists, aid workers, gun-runners and spies have been
concentrating in the province for the last 11 years in
connection with the Afghan war following the Soviet inva-
sion of Afghanistan.—PPI

AIDS Cases Spreading
93WE0364A Lahore THE PAKISTAN TIMES
in English 12 Apr 93 p 6

(Editorial: “Combating AIDS Threat”]

[Text] At a high-level meeting chaired by the Federal
Minister of Health, Syed Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi, it was
revealed that out of 263,828 persons tested in the country
for AIDS till December last year, 170 responded positively
to HIV and AIDS. On the other hand, a WHO report
predicts that the number of adults worldwide with devel-
oped cases of AIDS during the 1990s would be almost nine
times greater than the previous decade. It also says that
150,000 infants were born infected with the AIDS virus in
the 1980s. If the prediction holds good, the number of adults
developing AIDS each year may rise from less than 100,000
in 1988 to over 500,000 in the year 2000. It is feared that if
appropriate measures are not adopted in Asia to check the
disease, it will turn into an ‘AIDS hell’ by the end of this
century.

The Government of Pakistan has established 25 screening
centres at various hospitals in the country for AIDS testing.
Needless to say, this will not suffice. In a country where sex
is still a taboo, it would be impossible to promote safe-sex,
and much less to prevent the perils of spreading or con-
tracting the killer disease. What is urgently needed is an
accurate data on the subject in the country and a full-fledged
campaign by the print and electronic media in all regional
languages to create necessary awareness in all quarters of the
society to educate the man in the street about the hard facts
and risk factors of AIDS and HIV virus infection. Under the
circumstances, it is imperative that the media plays an
effective role in disseminating knowledge about drugs an
drub abuse. This is not a matter we can leave to the
government of hospitals alone to solve. Considering there is
still no known cure for AIDS, and may be none for a long
time to come, strict and efficient preventive measures must
be enforced without any further delay. Voluntary responsi-
bility for this lies with the literate people of the country. The
need of the hour is swift action, not rhetoric or promises,
however well-intentioned.

170 Cases Reported
93WE0364B Karachi DAWN in English 7 Apr 93 p 7

[Article: “170 AIDS Cases Detected.” Also see JPRS-
TEP-93-007, 23 April 93, pg 63]

[Text] Islamabad, April 6: The total number of HIV and
AIDS cases detected by the end of 1992 are 170. Out of this



Epidemiology

AIDS
JPRS-TEP-93-012 CONTENTS 21 May 1993
AFRICA
BOTSWANA

All Districts Now Reporting AIDS Cases [BOTSWANA DAILY NEWS, 26 Jan 93] ....
GHANA

Health Minister Discusses AIDS Crisis

[R. Ardfayfio; PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC, 16 Mar 93]
AIDS Spread in Central Region ‘Alarming’

[James Mensah; PEOPLE'S DAILY GRAPHIC, 27 Mar 93]

KENYA

About 100,000 Have AIDS; 1 Million Carriers
[Kathryn Kahiko; THE KENYA TIMES, 4 Mar 93]
More Than 34,000 AIDS Cases Reported /THE KENYA TIMES, 18 Mar 93] .

SOUTH AFRICA

Health Department Reveals HIV Infection Rate /SAPA, 14 May 93] ..
Parties Concerned Over AIDS Situation in Homelands Johannesburg radio, 30 Apr 93]

ZAMBIA

President Warns of AIDS Crisis Seriousness {TIMES OF ZAMBIA, 18 Mar] ...
ZIMBABWE

Expert Estimates 55,000 Full-Blown AIDS Cases [THE HERALD, 17 Feb 33 -
Statistics of AIDS Among Youth Reviewed /THE HERALD, 8 Mar 93] ..

CHINA

Report Views Yunnan Province AIDS Hot Line [ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE, | May 93]
Scientists Discover Anti-AIDS Drug in Marine Life /XINHUA, 21 Apr 93] ..

EAST ASIA
INDONESIA

Health Official Notes Increase in AIDS, HIV Cases /[ANTARA, 9 May 93]
MALAYSIA

Minister Discloses 5,459 HIV Carriers Nationwide [Kuala Lumpur radio, 24 Apr 93] .....
SINGAPORE

178 HIV Positive; Heterosexual Activity Biggest Factor
[Brendan Pereira; THE STRAITS TIMES, 23 Apr 93] ......

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SIPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

posters, and splashy condom packages that would in con-
junction with the conference be dispensed to youths.

One cannot help wondering if this is really what Latvia
should be investing in while the spreading of the HIV
disease is still so minimal compared to other health
problems.

“Yes, we must. Now is when we have a chance to do
something. If we do not stop the spread of the infection now,
we will have the same problem as in western Europe,
including the considerable costs of an AIDS hospital ward.
We do not have money for that.”

Isolated

Latvia is seeking information, training, testing, counseling,
and care. Formerly, in the Soviet-run Latvia, HIV-positive
cases were identified—or “caught” as Zalcmanis expresses
it—and isolated from society. Today, the policy is that they
should be able to live in the society with support from the
center.

There is a “hotline” with a physician who answers questions
on AIDS, a gynecology room, other examination rooms, an
isolation room, and a room for those who wish to be tested,
proceduro kabinets it says on the doors.

Formerly, everyone was HIV tested without being informed.
whenever they visited the hospital. In 1991, 800,000 such
tests were performed, 32,000 on pregnant women. Today,
the test is voluntary and anonymous and done with the
informed consent of the individual being tested.

In Riga there is a blood bank with HIV-tested blood for
transfusions. That is where the nation’s hospitals turn when
they need blood. If the bank is empty, which it often is, there
is a net of blood donors around the country. They are tested

CENTRAL EURASIA 25

at intervals, although there is no guarantee that they have
not recently been infected when they are called in an
emergency to donate blood.

“Increased Tolerance”

“There is a small chance, it has to be admitted, but we have
to take it. The biggest problem now, the one we must work
hardest on, is attitudes about HIV and AIDS. We must, in
part, create a greater tolerance for the infected, in part, make
people understand that this is a problem which concerns us
all,” said Zalcmanis.

Kamchatka AIDS Center Begins Free Distribution
of Condoms

93WE0334C Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

in Russian 30 Mar 93 p 6

[Article by “POSTFAKTUM”: “Free Distribution of Pro-
phylactics”]

[Text] On 25 March, Vladimir Biryukov, administrative
chief of Kamchatka Oblast, approved a program for the
prevention of AIDS up to 1995. A total of 454 million rubles
and 60,000 dollars were allocated from the oblast budget in
1993 for implementation of this program. It provides for
free distribution of condoms to mentally ill people, alco-
holics, prostitutes and drug addicts on the records of the
relevant institutions, as well as students at secondary
schools, vocational and technical schools, institutions of
higher learning and visitors at the vacation facilities for
fishermen and seamen on shore leave.

Eduard Loman, chief physician of the Kamchatka Center
for the Prevention of AIDS, reported that the condoms will
be sent to institutions and issued at health centers at the rate
of 4-5 per week.

As of 25 March, two cases of AIDS with fatal outcome were
recorded in Kamchatka.



JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

In a newspaper article, Dr. Nat Phamonprawat said that
there is still a general misunderstanding about conducting
studies on, developing, and evaluating an AIDS vaccine.
People think that it is the World Health Organization that
stipulated which vaccine was to be tested. Actually, the
World Health Organization has simply coordinated things
and provided scientific knowledge to the countries that have
been granted permission to conduct studies and test vac-
cines. It is the Ministry of Public Health that made the
decision and authorized certain vaccines to be tested here.
In doing this, it has held to three principles: 1. The vaccine
to be tested must first be approved by the Food and Drug
Administration in the country where it is produced. 2. The
vaccine must have been tested on people in the country
where it is produced. 3. The vaccine must be produced in
laboratories based on the standards.

At present, there are two groups that are conducting studies
in Thailand. One is the the U.S. Army group, which is
conducting tests on Thai soldiers who have antibodies.
Phase-2 studies using the GP-160 vaccine will get underway
around May. The Ministry of Public Health has already
authorized this.

The other group is the Japanese research team of Mr. Kenji
Okuta, a professor from Yokohama University. He con-
tacted Professor Praphan Phanuphak, the director of the
AIDS Program, Thai Red Cross. But his project has not yet
been approved by the Thai Committee for Human
Research. At a recent conference in the United States, Mr.
Okuta said that he had already tested an AIDS vaccine in
Thailand. That statement shocked the Thai director-general
of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, who
was at that conference.

In view of the statement made by that Japanese researcher,
there are those who wonder if that vaccine actually has
been tested on people in Thailand. Who has tested the
vaccine, who have the guinea pigs been, and who will
benefit from this? Concerning this, people have observed
that the Thai Red Cross is not subordinate to the Ministry
of Public Health. The Ministry of Public Health oversees
only the budget of the Thai Red Cross. Other than that, the
executive committee of the Thai Red Cross manages
things itself. And the money donated to the Thai Red
Cross belongs to the Red Cross. The problem is, in view of
the fact that the AIDS problem is a major problem in
Thailand and in view of the large amounts of money
involved, the Ministry of Public Health wants to oversee
all the units. One minister of public health once said that
“we should be in control of all activities concerning this.”
Because of this, a conflict has arisen between the Ministry
of Public Health and the Thai Red Cross, which is headed
by Professor Praphan Phanuphak.

A conference was held on 3 February on the topic ‘‘Con-
ducting Studies on, Developing, and Evaluating the Results
of AIDS Vaccines in Thailand.” It was concluded that three
types of vaccines will be tested in Thailand. One is a
preventive vaccine, which will be tested on volunteers and
which entails difficulties in making people understand. A
second vaccine is one to treat people with the AIDS virus.
The third is a vaccine to prevent mothers from transmitting

EAST ASIA 9

the AIDS virus to their child. Also, an effort is being made
to improve relations between the Ministry of Public Health
and the Thai Red Cross on the technical front. But actually
achieving results is another matter. A news source said that
it’s possible that the tests conducted by the Thai Red Cross
might turn out better than the tests that are controlled more
strictly, because the Thai Red Cross is outside the control of
the Ministry of Public Health. If the tests are successful, who
will reap the huge profits? KHAO PHISET contacted Pro-
fessor Praphan, the AIDS director, Thai Red Cross. He
responded angrily by saying that three-four vials of vaccine
have been brought in from Japan. This vaccine is now being
tested in the laboratory. It has not been tested on people. He
said that the laboratory testing has not been completed yet.
But Japan has stopped its tests on this vaccine and is now
developing a new vaccine.

At present, two vaccines used to treat AIDS, AZT and DBI,
have been approved for use by the Thai Food and Drug
Administration. The vaccine DDC, which has not yet been
registered with the Food and Drug Administration, has been
brought in by an American patient of Professor Praphan
and distributed free of charge to people with the AIDS virus.
Now, there is no more DDC left. One doctor said that if the
vaccine is brought in in order to conduct tests or the patients
can be monitored, there shouldn’t be any problems. But the
drug must first be approved by the Food and Drug Admin-
istration in that country.

Professor Praphan angrily said that the “Niranam Clinic
and Phuan Wan Phut Community are not test sites. It must
be understood that the Niranam Clinic is a place that
provides information and advice to AIDS patients and
others who are interested. It is not a clinic that treats people
anonymously. As for the Phuan Wan Phut Community, its
goal is to have members share their experiences with each
other, hold seminars, and have them help each other solve
the problems. It focuses on mental treatment. Meetings are
held on the second and fourth Fridays of every month.”

“As AIDS researchers and as a source of data available to
foreign researchers, what will happen is that there will be
joint research projects with other countries, and that will
bring in huge sums of money. There is very little money
available here for research. Perhaps a few hundred thousand
at most. It would be difficult to get a million. But other
countries will easily contribute 10 million, and they would
pay compensation, which is very high based on rates abroad.
And if we can do things in cooperation with the World
Health Organization, that would be even better. Thus, from
the scientific standpoint, this is a way of becoming better
known and that’s good. How they will try to profit from this
is another issue. If they try to profit based on science, that is
proper, because they will have put up the funds to do the
research, You can’t criticize them for that. But the method
used is the problem. The Ministry of Public Health does not
think that the method of the Praphan group is correct. That
is, those in the ministry feel that they should be kept
informed. People aren’t sure if AIDS vaccines have been
tested yet. Who will represent Thailand in taking responsi-
bility for these projects, which involve two different types of
vaccines? Researchers say that the GP-160 vaccine may not



12 EAST ASIA

had the virus or 3 percent; of 100 men using prostitutes who
came to be tested, 21 had the virus or 21 percent; of the 24
open prostitutes who came to be tested, 12 had the virus or
50 percent; and of 94 secret prostitutes, eight had the virus
or 8.51 percent.

“Tt has been said that many pregnant women married to
farmers have AIDS but that is to be expected because the
Thai people are mostly farmers. Sometimes it was found
that those with the AIDS virus had been prostitutes who had
returned to their old district, acquired a family, become
pregnant and then learned they had the virus,” Dr. Prayun
said. He added that he did not want the media to announce
that in Phayao and Chiang Rai there were many prostitutes
with AIDS because that would destroy the morale of the
people in those provinces. That would not be appropriate.

He also said that the incidence of AIDS among male
prostitutes in the five provinces where there had been
checks was as follows: in Bangkok 68 were checked and
three were found with the virus, in Chonburi 223 were
checked and 26 were found with the virus, in Chiang Mai 57
were checked and 24 were found with the virus, in Phuket
99 were checked and 15 were found with the virus, and in
Songkhla one was checked and found not to have the virus.
In the two provinces where convicts were checked, Bangkok
Province and Songkhla Province, the incidence was found
to be 14.35 percent out of 230 checked.

A report from the Ministry of Public Health on the results of
the most recent blood tests done by the epidemiology
division on 10 October 1992 for target groups indicated the
following: in Phatthalung 28 were checked and 20 were
found to have AIDS, in Rayong 42 were checked and 27
were found to have AIDS, in Krabi 20 were checked and 12
were found to have AIDS, in Trat 23 were checked and 13
were found to have AIDS, in Chiang Mai 100 were checked
and 56 were found to have AIDS, and in Ayutthaya 100
were checked and 56 were found to have AIDS. All of these
were intravenous drug users.

As for open prostitutes, in Nakhon Pathom of 116 checked
78 had AIDS, in Phayao of 100 checked 66 had AIDS, in
Lamphun of 237 checked 143 had AIDS, in Chiang Rai of
100 checked 57 had AIDS, and in Lampang of 255 checked
133 had AIDS.

As for secret prostitutes, in Sisaket of 79 checked 28 had
AIDS, in Pathum Thani of 191 checked 53 had AIDS, in
Nakhon Sawan of 100 checked 17 had AIDS, in Suphanburi
of 176 checked 29 had AIDS, in Singburi of 100 checked, 14
had AIDS, and in Kanchanaburi of 100 checked 14 had
AIDS.

Cooperation with Burma on AIDS, Malaria
93WE0317B Bangkok THAI RAT in Thai 23 Feb 93 p 3

[Text] After a meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Than Sin,
the Burmese deputy minister of public health, Mr. Bunphan
Khaeowattana, the minister of public health, said that the
Burmese official had met with him to discuss the public
health problems along the border. He said that he informed
Burma that Thailand now has the burden of treating those
wounded in the fighting between Burmese soldiers and the

JPRS-TEP-93-012
21 May 1993

minority groups, who are sent to Thai hospitals for treat-
ment. This is in addition to the malaria problem. One of the
problems is that the drugs used to treat malaria are losing
their effectiveness.

Mr. Bunphan said that as for the AIDS problem, officials
have been able to control the disease to a certain degree. An
effort is being made to prevent more people from con-
tracting this disease by providing correct information to the
people. Burma and Thailand must cooperate on this, There
could be government-to-government discussions in order to
take action on this. He said that he has told Burma that
Thailand is ready to cooperate and provide help to Burma
on public health issues in view of the fact that we are
neighboring countries.

AIDS Budget Reallocation
93WE0317C Bangkok NAEO NA in Thai 22 Feb 93 p 3

[Excerpt] Mrs. Saisuri Chutikun, the former minister
attached to the office of the Prime Minister, discussed the
matter of the Extraordinary Subcommittee to Consider the
1993 Expenditure Budget cutting the AIDS control budgets
of other ministries by 800 million baht out of a total budget
of more than 1.1 billion baht and allotting this money to the
Ministry of Public Health instead. Too many AIDS activi-
ties are being placed in the hands of the Ministry of Public
Health. Other ministries should play a role in this, too. To
solve the AIDS problem, the emphasis should be on con-
trolling the spread of the disease rather than treating the
disease.

Mrs. Saisuri said that the AIDS budget, which used to be
under the control of the Office of the Prime Minister, has
been turned over to the Ministry of Public Health because of
political problems and personal conflicts. Previous govern-
ments put Mr. Michai Wirawaithaya, the former minister
attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, in direct charge
of this, and that generated resentment. In principle, the
Office of the Prime Minister had good intentions. It is a
neutral unit that can do a better job than the Ministry of
Public Health. But there probably isn’t anything that can be
done about this. All we can do is hope that the Ministry of
Public Health will use this money efficiently and recognize
the role of other ministries. [passage omitted]

VIETNAM

Radio Reports Nationwide Figures on HIV-Carriers

290 HIV-Positive Cases
BK2804034193

[Editorial Report] Hanoi Voice of Vietnam in Vietnamese
at 0500 GMT on 19 April carried a one-minute item on the
number of HIV-carriers in Vietnam based on figure
released by the National Committee for AIDS Prevention
and Control.

The announcer said that “the medical authority in Nha
Trang, Khanh Hoa province, recently found 31 HIV posi-
tive cases while carrying AIDS test on 32 drug addicts.”