UNAIDS revealed this Tuesday (29/07) that the rate of HIV infection among gay men in several parts of Asia is already higher than the rate that decimated LGTB communities in the United States in the late 80s.
In his 2008 report on the AIDS epidemic, the executive director of this UN body, Peter Piot, called for more action to prevent the spread of HIV among gay men and defended the importance of working with affected communities.
"Across Asia there are now AIDS epidemics at the same intensity as we saw 25 years ago in the US," Piot said.
Paul De Lay, director of Surveillance at UNAIDS, admitted that the AIDS epidemic among the LGTB community in Asia is not new, but according to him, it is due to several factors, including less funding for programs aimed at gays and the existence of new groups, less concerned about safe sex.
"There are countries where the percentage of infected people is similar to that in San Francisco, Berlin and London in the 80s, where between 15 and 20% of men who had sex with other men were HIV positive," said De Lay.
