A new United Nations report, Redefining Aids in Asia: Crafting an Effective Response, was just released and makes an astonishing prediction: 500,000 peaple could die each year people due to AIDS-related illnesses by 2020.
The report released Wednesday also contends that the number of infected people could potentially double to 10 million by 2020 if prevention work is not undertaken. The cost of such an increase in infected people would be great in all levels, including economic cost, since Aids is one of the major causes of death among working-age adults in Asia. According to the chairman of the Commission on AIDS in Asia, Dr Chakravarthi Rangarajan, the cost could be up to $2 billion annually until 2020.
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