Condom use seems to be reducing number of new HIV/AIDS cases

doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7310.417

BMJ 2001;323:417 ( 25 August )

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Condom use seems to be reducing number of new HIV/AIDS cases

Rohit Sharma, Mumbai

Some Asian countries have made a significant dent on the HIV/AIDS epidemic through condom use, reported experts in Hanoi lastweek for a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting on the promotionof condom use in high risk settings inAsia.

New infections continue unabated in scattered areas, they said. In Thailand, new infections have plummeted from 143000 in1991 to 20000 in 2000. HIV infection levels among pregnant women,which is considered a good indicator of the epidemic's spreadamong the general population, have dropped from 2% in the mid-1990sto 1.5%now.

The success of Thailand is attributed by experts to its "100% condom use" programme targeted at the commercial sexindustry.

In Cambodia $---$ the country worst hit by AIDS outside Africa, with 2.8% of its adult population aged 15-49 infected with HIV $---$ newinfections have dropped among sex workers aged under 20, frommore than 40% in 1998 to 23% in 2000. The sale of condoms jumpedfrom nearly 100000 in 1994 to 11.5 million in1998.

The future course of the epidemic would depend on how countries such as China and India grapple with HIV, said the WHO. Itreported that there had been "a constant spread of HIV infectionamong injecting drug users, with more than 50% infected in Nepal,southern China, and north easternIndia."

Commercial sex workers in Asia do not use condoms, it said, and supplies generally fall short of needs. China annually needsover 800 billion condoms, but only 1.5 billion are producedthere.

"The epidemic in Asia is not the same as that in Western countries or Africa," said Shigeru Omi, the WHO's regional directorfor the Western-Pacific region. "If we use the lessons learnedin Thailand and Cambodia, we have a real chance to stop the growthof the epidemic," headded.

© BMJ 2001

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