More anti-HIV Efforts Urged for Migrant Workers

The spread of AIDS is threatening millions of migrant workers in Asia who lack sufficient access to health services, regional health workers and advocates for migrant laborers said.

"For a comprehensive approach to contain HIV/AIDS, the health of not only local populations but also migrant communities needs to be addressed," Caram Asia, a Malaysian-based coalition of groups from 15 countries that focus on migrant health issues, said in an open letter to Asian governments that was released late Monday.

There are now 53 million migrant workers in Asia who are vulnerable to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, because of their relative lack of access to HIV-prevention programs, health counseling and medical tests, Caram Asia said.

In many cases, migrants found to be HIV-positive are deported without any help or immediate treatment, it added. It did not estimate how many migrant workers in Asia were HIV-positive.

Many migrant workers come from poor parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. They often find employment in more affluent Asian countries as maids and laborers.

According to recent UN statistics, about 8.6 million people in Asia are infected with HIV. About 500,000 people in the region die each year from AIDS, and financial losses from the disease are estimated at $10 billion annually.

However, investment in HIV prevention and care in Asia remains extremely low, officials have said. The number of people in Asia infected with HIV could more than double to 20 million in the next five years without a better government response and more funding, they said.

The Associated PressPublished: May 22, 2007\
http://www.iht. com/articles/ 2007/05/22/ africa/migrants. php

Photo courtesy of Z.Mosende, shot during the celebration of the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial in Manila on May 25, 2007.