SHANGHAI, May 9 (Xinhuanet)-- The spreading AIDS epidemic is
threatening Asia's economic growth, warned officials from the
United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health
Organization and bank delegates at "Investing in Asia's Health",
an Asian Development Bank (ADB) seminar held here Thursday.    
   Statistics show that about two people in the Asia-Pacific
region are infected every minute, and a total of over one million
people were infected in 2001.
   "AIDS is casting shadow on Asia's economic miracle, and is
turning into a global crisis, as the region accounts for 60
percent of world's population," says Michel Sidibe, Director of
the Country and Regional Support Department of UNAIDS.
   Research newly released by the WHO indicates that societies
with a heavy burden of disease tend to experience a multiplicity
of severe impediments to economic progress especially to
sustainable economic growth.
   It suggests that each 10 percent improvement in life expectancy
at birth is associated with a rise in economic growth of at least
0.3 to 0.4 percent per year.
   "With an alarming infection growth rate in many Asian Pacific
countries, care for AIDS is over-burdening the health care system
and is taking away from provision of other health services," said
Sidibe.
   In countries such as China and India where AIDS was still at an
early phase of the AIDS pandemic, timely control measures were
critical to head off an explosive growth in infection, but these
demanded heavy expenditure, he said.
   Jeffrey Sachs, director for the Center for International
Development at Harvard University and chairman of the WHO
Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, believes developing
countries should fully recognize the importance of investing in
health in their overall development strategy.
   In his report, "Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health
for Economic Development", released by the WHO last December,
Sachs estimated that total annual health outlays in world's least-
developed countries would rise by 17 billion U.S. dollars by 2007
and 29 billion U.S. dollars by 2015 and AIDS prevention and care
would account for half the increase.
   However, low-income countries would be able to pay 14 billion U.
S. dollars and 21 billion U.S. dollars respectively at best, said
Sachs.
   The WHO's recommendations for each developing country include
increasing investment in health and relevant areas like education,
water and agricultural development; the establishing of a
temporary National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (NCMH),
chaired jointly by the Ministers of Health and Finance to organize
and lead the medical as well as economic war against AIDS and
other diseases.
   Sachs also addressed the exacerbating condition of the AIDS
pandemic in China, saying that China had the technical ability to
control AIDS infection, but still needed a comprehensive strategy,
including local surveillance network, increasing government
subsidiary and free medicine for the poor.
   The seminar is part of the serial activities of the ongoing
35th Annual Meeting of ADB's Board of Governors.  Enditem