Until the late 1980s, no Asian country had experienced a major AIDS epidemic, but by the late 1990s, the disease was well established across the entire region. UNAIDS reports that in 2003, 1 million people were newly infected with HIV in Asia and the Pacific, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the region to 7.4 million. With roughly 60 percent of the world's population, even relatively low prevalence rates translate into huge numbers infected, and Asia is expected to be the flashpoint for the global AIDS epidemic in the coming decade.

HIV/AIDS in Asia

Bangladesh

Cambodia

China

India

Indonesia

Myanmar (Burma)

Thailand

Vietnam

East Asia and the Pacific (Hong Kong, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and Republic of Korea)

South Asia (Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka)

Southeast Asia (Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore)