KUALA LUMPUR: The World Health Organisation has called on countries in the region to focus on delivering their five-year promise to stop the spread of AIDS.

With only two years left for the goal set by the World AIDS Campaign to be achieved, the United Nations body feels governments must implement comprehensive prevention, treatment, care and support programmes.

WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Region Dr Shigeru Omi said a progress report published in June indicated that while such programmes had expanded, more remained to be done.

Last year, only 28 per cent of those in low- to middle-income countries in the Western Pacific Region who needed antiretroviral (ARV) treatment received it.

ARV medications are designed to inhibit the reproduction of HIV in the body. If this treatment is effective, the deterioration of the immune system and the onset of AIDS can be delayed for years.
World AIDS Day, observed on Dec 1, had "Leadership" as the theme for last year and this year.

In the Western Pacific Region, about 1.3 million people, including 21,000 children, were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS last year, with around 150,000 new HIV infections and 63,000 AIDS-related deaths.



In Malaysia, as of June, about 82,704 HIV-infected individuals had been reported. Of this, some 14,100 were AIDS cases.

Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) president Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman said Malaysia had been proactive since the first reported cases in 1986.

However, a MAC survey revealed that ignorance, stigma and prejudice were still rife.

In the last four years, she said, the number of HIV infection cases had declined due to aggressive awareness campaigns and prevention measures.

But she said efforts to control the epidemic should be enhanced because the data collected may not reflect a true picture of the epidemic.