ABSTRACT
At the end of June 1994, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that over 16 million people world-wide had been infected with HIV. By the year 2000, WHO estimates that between 30 and 40 million people will be infected with the virus (Communicable Disease Report 1994). The most severely affected area at present is sub-Saharan Africa, where it is estimated that over 10 million people have been infected (WHO/GPA 1994) (Figure 4.1). Of this total, about half to two-thirds are in East and Central Africa. The most alarming current trends however, are in South and South-East Asia, where the epidemic is spreading in some areas as fast as it was a decade ago in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 2.5 million HIV infections have occurred in adults in this region, with the majority of reported infections appearing from two countries - India and Thailand (WHO/GPA 1994).
