BBC

Sunday, 7 July, 2002, 16:20 GMT 17:20 UK

UN Aids warning to world leaders

The head of the United Nations agency set up to combat Aids (UNAids) has said leaders who do not take the fight against the disease seriously should be kicked out of office. Speaking ahead of the opening of the International Aids Conference in Barcelona, Dr Peter Piot warned some countries were in "very serious denial" about the scale of the problem.

We can't stand by when aids is spreading in the most populated countries of the world Dr Peter Piot Around 15,000 doctors, scientists, patients, politicians and charity workers are attending the meeting, which it is hoped will kick start efforts to stop 68 million people dying from the disease by 2020 - the latest estimate from the UN.

Top of the agenda will be last week's report by UNAids suggesting the epidemic is still in its early stages and is spreading fast.

: Aids pandemic Click to see Aids statistics around the world

The conference will also hear calls for the richer countries to do more to help the developing world to tackle the disease.

The World Health Organisation estimates that $10bn is needed annually to fight Aids. At present, just $3bn is spent.

Chaos feared

In an interview with the BBC, Dr Piot welcomed the fact that Aids was now on the agenda at world summits such as the G8 gathering of the richest nations.

Rates of infection are growing at an alarming rate in China

But he said it was in the interest of every country, whether in the rich world or the developing world, to put Aids at the top of the political agenda.

"The world stood by when Aids was spreading in Africa, we can't do the same thing now that it is spreading in Eastern Europe, at the doorsteps of the EU.

"We can't stand by when Aids is spreading in the most populated countries of the world, such as China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh," he said.

Dr Piot says one of the major challenges is to get Russia and China to recognise Aids as a key issue for their countries, before the disease reaches African levels of infection rates.

The situation in Africa - where 28.5 million people are living with HIV/Aids - will also be of great concern to the delegates.

Dr Piot says much more needs to be done to tackle the disease there. If not, he warns, "we're going into chaos, into the destabilisation of whole societies".

Before the conference got under way, campaigners staged a protest to drug patent barriers which restrict the use of cheaper generic drugs for HIV/Aids patients in developing nations.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2002

Answers

Not to mention the threat of terrorists using the disease for their own nefarious purposes.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2002