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Activists push awareness on World AIDS Day
各地活動紀念世界艾滋病日
Condoms and condom-adorned activists are marching in Thailand's Pattaya beach red light district. Marchers there handed out free condoms to promote safe sex on World AIDS Day. (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) MAYOR OF PATTAYA CITY, ITTHIPHOL KUNPLOME, SAYING: "We want to raise awareness for employees in bars and pubs to have blood-tests and use condoms regularly, not just today." About 35 million people worldwide are currently living with HIV/AIDS. Nineteen million of them don't know they have the virus. Thailand's AIDS epidemic took off in the mid-80s and by the 90s, 35 percent of female sex workers had contracted HIV. The estimated number of people infected each year has dropped drastically in recent years, but officials say more needs to be done. (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) DIRECTOR OF SISTER FOUNDATION, THITIYANAN NANGPOR, SAYING: "Condoms alone will not solve the HIV problem. To protect against AIDS, we need to work on many dimensions, like protection and regular blood-tests. It's also necessary to urge the society to understand transvestites and gay men." In India's Sonagachi district, home of one of Asia's largest red light districts, activists there also distributed condoms. India has the third-largest number of cases in the world with 2.1 million people living with HIV-AIDS. In Russia, where the HIV infection rate is growing at about 10 percent, researchers at the Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS are fast at work. Officials there say the country was late in detecting the the AIDS and must catch up. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HEAD OF OF RUSSIAN CENTER FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF AIDS, VADIM POKROVSKY, SAYING: "There is only one solution - we need to create national strategic plan of actions and it should be, of course, rather solid and it should be managed by the very top state officials." In Washington, the White House is also raising awareness. The U.S. has 1.2 million people living with HIV, with almost 1 in 7 unaware of their infection.
