• GUWAHATI

    NAT12National/Health/SocietyAssam steps up fight against AIDSGuwahati, Dec 1 IANS Thousands of people in India's northeast, where a large number of drug users have sparked fears of a worsening AIDS epidemic, pledged Monday to step up the fight against HIV by spreading awareness about the dreaded virus.School children, health workers, people living with HIV/AIDS and rehabilitated drug addicts marched through the streets in the seven northeastern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura - to mark World AIDS Day and educate the public about prevention and treatment for the HIV-positive."The slogan this year is 'Lead-Empower-Deliver', highlighting the political leadership needed to fulfil commitments that have been made in the response to AIDS, particularly the promise of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, and celebrating the leadership that has been witnessed at all levels of society," Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said."We in Assam are committed to carrying out the theme of the World AIDS Day in letter and spirit," Sarma told IANS.Some 2.5 million Indians are HIV positive. "There is a need to make available anti-retroviral drugs more easily. We need anti-retroviral treatment ART centres in Assam for people living with HIV/AIDS," said Jahnabi Goswami, president of the Assam Network of Positive People.Goswami is one of the few women in India fighting to raise awareness of the disease and one of an even smaller number to have publicly declared that she is HIV-positive way back in 2001."We shall try and set up ART centres and take a pledge to fight the virus effectively and help those living with HIV/AIDS lead a dignified life without any discrimination," the minister said.While the seven northeastern states have a total of about 35,000 HIV-positive patients, authorities fear the disease may spread because of the region's acute drug problem.India's northeast borders the heroin-producing "Golden Triangle" of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand and has high rates of intravenous drug use - a key cause of HIV infection here.The seven states account for less than three percent of India's one billion-plus population but are home to more than 30 percent of the country's total intravenous drug users, according to various estimates."Sharing of needles by drug users in the northeast rather than promiscuous sex has led to a quantum increase in the number of AIDS cases," said S.I. Ahmed, chairman of the Assam AIDS Prevention Society."But today, the drug users are passing the infection to the general population in the region through their sex partners. HIV transmission rates from mother to child are also assuming frightening proportions."Health workers also emphasised the need to educate sex workers following surveys that suggest most prostitutes in the region were engaging in unprotected sex.Despite the efforts of non-governmental organisations and pressure groups, government agencies in the region have so far not managed to curb drug addiction or prostitution.--Indo-Asian News Service520 Words01121216
    2008-12-01 03:00:13

  • China builds South East Asia ties

    Senior Chinese officials are visiting Laos and Cambodia as they cultivate ties with China's poorer southern neighbours.
    2008-12-01 02:00:00

  • Lao PM: Asia can be drug free by 2015

    HANOI, Nov. 26 Xinhua -- Lao Prime Minister Bouasone ...
    2008-11-29 00:25:38

  • Timeline: Laos

    A chronology of key events
    2008-11-26 06:00:00

  • Country profile: Laos

    Key facts, figures and dates
    2008-11-26 06:00:00

  • AIDS will spread like bushfire in India: UN

    India has the world's third highest caseload with 2.5 million infections. It has an estimated 200,000 intravenous drug users, many of whom are in the remote northeast region which borders the opium-producing Golden Triangle of Myanmar...
    2008-11-13 11:27:12

  • Vientiane, Laos: A lazy river runs through it

    In Vientiane, the capital of Laos, you’ll find beauty, grace, gentleness and sensational food. But, as Tim Jepson discovers, the Mekong is the thing.
    2008-11-10 08:45:27

  • Some countries remain cautious of Obama over trade and security

    Never before has one country's election been followed so closely around the world, and if there had ever been any doubt whose side the rest of the world was on it would have been drowned out by the cheering on most of the planet's television screens.After a little throat clearing, even Iran joined in. The Tehran Times, the English language organ of Iran's theocracy said: "The world has heaved a collective sigh of relief because their candidate has won the US presidential election."Amid the global euphoria, it was easy to forget that there were still small corners of the world immune to Obamamania - a handful of countries that could be said to remain Obambivalent and they were in some surprising places.Gallup surveyed 73 countries in the run-up to Tuesday's election and found four where John McCain was more popular than Barack Obama: Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Georgia. In Pakistan, the two candidates were tied at 5% each, with the overwhelming majority of Pakistanis casting a "pox on both your houses" vote.Gallup did not poll in Israel where other surveys had shown strong support for McCain, at least until Obama visited last summer and appeared to reassure Israelis that the fact that his middle name was Hussein did not mean he was going to pick sides. The polls swung his way soon afterwards. The Jerusalem Post greeted his victory with an editorial headlined: Mazal tov, Obama.The centre of opposition to Obama's charm was not to be found in the Middle East or eastern Europe or any other active faultline of global politics, but in southeast Asia. Philippines, Cambodia and Laos would all have voted against Obama if the poll is to be believed, with the biggest pro-McCain vote in Philippines. It's not personal. The Philippines press applauded Obama's personal triumph and the ethnic breakthrough it represented. The problem is trade.There was also concern in Manila that Obama might withdraw the US garrison there which is helping the government fight the Islamist Abu Sayyaf movement.Compounding all this, there seemed to be a personal problem brewing even before Obama enters the Oval Office. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Philippine president, appeared to have been miffed when Obama failed to take her call offering congratulations. The main worry in Cambodia and Laos was also Obama's comments on trade, and its impact on American manufacturing. Cambodia is worried about the threat to its textile exports.The Lao People's Democratic Republic, meanwhile, had nothing to say about the Obama victory in its official English language paper, where the election victory passed unmarked.Obama was also unpopular in Georgia but for different reasons. In August, with the two-year presidential campaign approaching its climax in the US, Georgia attacked South Ossetia a secessionist enclave linked to Moscow. Russia rushed to its friend's defence so fast in fact that many observers believe it had been waiting for such an excuse and a short but bloody conflict ensued.McCain, who has holidayed in Georgia and admired the country's defiance, spoke out immediately in its defence. Obama was more cautious, telling reporters: "I think it is important at this point for all sides to show restraint and to stop this armed conflict."He later adjusted his position, arguing that, "no matter how this conflict started", Russia had gone too far by occupying large tracts of Georgian territory, but by then the damage in Georgian eyes was already done.Apart from the trade issue this seemed to be the main source of Obama-scepticism abroad - a fear, among former Soviet states especially - that he would not be as assertive in defending their independence from Russia. In Lithuania, for the same reason, Obama tied with McCain in the Gallup poll. The more secure a former eastern bloc country felt, the better Obama seemed to do. Poland has faith in its Nato umbrella, and Obama outdid McCain by a ratio of almost two to one.The concern in some quarters in eastern Europe is that Obama might be too inexperienced or too dovish to stand up to Russian pressure. In Pakistan, that anxiety was reversed. When Obama declared on the campaign trail that he might order US forces into Pakistan in pursuit of al-Qaida militants, his popularity nosedived. Since then, George Bush has done the same thing, and so the sense of outrage is more evenly spread towards Democrats and Republicans. If anything, Obama's reputation in Pakistan is going through something of a rehabilitation, as his life story has become better known.Other than Nelson Mandela, it is hard to think of any public figure who has so united the world in praise. For real vitriol you had to come to Britain and read the Spectator magazine's website, where its columnist Melanie Phillips wrote: "The enemies of America, freedom and the west will certainly be rejoicing today. They have stormed the very citadel on Pennsylvania Avenue itself."Hello Mr PresidentWhich leader had the longest and best congratulatory phone call with Barack Obama Here's what they claim:Gordon Brown, UK 10 minutes "Very friendly and positive."Nicolas Sarkozy, France 30 minutes "Extremely warm". Agreed to meet in the "quite near future".Kevin Rudd, Australia 10-15 minutes "Friendly conversation" about challenges facing world.Taro Aso, Japan 10 minutes Obama spoke of strong affinity for the country.Stephen Harper, Canada "Warm exchange"; there could be no closer friends and allies.Ehud Olmert, Israel "Discussed need to ... advance peace process while maintaining security of state of Israe.l"Lee Myung-bak, South Korea Obama said their alliance is a "cornerstone" of Asia's peace and stability.Angela Merkel, Germany "Agreed close cooperation best way to tackle countless challenges."Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran Congratulated Obama in a letter.US elections 2008US foreign policyUnited StatesIranIsrael and the Palestinian territoriesguardian.co.uk &ampcopy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
    2008-11-08 17:00:00

  • China's threatened elephants turn into killers

    There are fewer than 300 wild elephants left in China, so when Jeremy McGill, an American tourist, stumbled across a group of adults earlier this year in a nature...
    2008-11-08 15:35:15

  • A requiem: Tourism swamps Asia's unique, remote places

    On a chilly predawn in Laos' wondrous and once-secluded Luang Prabang, scruffy European backpackers and well-heeled American tourists have staked out their firing positions. A fusillade of flashing, jostling cameras...
    2008-11-08 07:11:19
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