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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
Permissive attitudes of Laotian men toward sex and
prostitution
facilitated the transmission of human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV)
during the 1980s and 1990s, making HIV infection and
acquired
immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) a growing concern. In
1992 a
focused sample of about 7,600 urban residents identified
one AIDS
case and fourteen persons who tested HIV positive. No
other
statistics were available as of mid-1994.
The government convened a conference on AIDS in 1992,
which
noted the potential for a rapid spread of HIV in the
population.
Participants at the conference agreed that the spread of
AIDS in
Laos was inevitable, and, in fact, would likely be through
young
men who migrated to towns and then returned to their
villages, as
well as through women who entered the sex trades because
of
economic necessity. The numbers of HIV-positive people
could
increase to more than 10,000 within the next few years,
although
these numbers would likely not expand at the same rate as
in
Thailand--even though Thai men demonstrate similar
attitudes toward
sex and prostitution--because Laos's national policies
forbid open
prostitution. Through the early 1990s, Laos avoided
widespread
prostitution such as that found in neighboring countries,
but it is
likely to increase, as is the temporary migration of
Laotian women
to neighboring countries to work in the sex industry.
Other
possible routes of HIV infection include users of
injectable
illicit drugs and medical injections using unsanitary
syringes.
Should AIDS spread significantly in Laos, it will not only
have a
devastating effect on rural labor and the national
economy, but
will put impossible stress on the health care system. As
the best
means of preventing an epidemic, the conference report
emphasized
education in all sectors of the population through a
variety of
methods, including the media.
Data as of July 1994
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