Posted on: Tuesday, July 9, 2002

EDITORIAL
Global AIDS problem will involve us more

An international AIDS conference in Barcelona this week will raise global awareness of the ongoing threat of this disease and overwhelming need for more treatment and prevention programs.

To date, the international effort against AIDS has appropriately focused the greatest attention on sub-Saharan Africa, where the rates of infection have been indeed horrifying.

What has received somewhat less attention is the rise of the disease in Asia and the Pacific. Researchers are particularly worried about the potential for mass numbers of AIDS cases in populous China, Indonesia and India.

For the Asia-Pacific region, this is more than a humanitarian issue, although that alone should be enough to warrant much greater attention. It is also a security issue.

Hawai'i can expect to play a significant role as U.S. and world attention shifts to the AIDS problem in Asia. Part of it will come through the U.S. military, which has an obvious strategic interest in security in the region.

The University of Hawai'i medical school and the resurging UH School of Public Health can also be expected to play an increasing role as the United States shifts more of its AIDS/HIV efforts to the Asia-Pacific region.