KOBE — Medical professionals, scholars, community leaders and those who are HIV positive from around Asia and the Pacific gathered Friday in Kobe to begin a five-day conference on the region's growing HIV/AIDS crisis.
"Asia and the Pacific are now home to a rapidly expanding HIV and AIDS epidemic. Last year, there were a total of 8.2 million people in the region who were HIV positive," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director and undersecretary general of the United Nations, just before the opening ceremony Friday evening.
Piot had praise for recent efforts in some parts of Asia, including Cambodia, in reversing its epidemic and noted that China and Malaysia's political leaders have gotten serious about fighting AIDS.