BBC survey of 15 Countries on AIDS finds Ignorance, Fear by UN Wire 4:39pm 18th Nov, 2003   Monday, November 17, 2003    A new survey by BBC finds that HIV/AIDS is poorly understood by people in Asia, Russia and Ukraine, all areas where the epidemic is spreading.    The survey, which included 2,500 people in China, found them to be among the least informed people in the world when it comes to HIV/AIDS.  Even in major cities, at least 10 percent did not know what the disease was, and about a third of those who had heard of it thought it could be transmitted via toilet seats or towels.  About one-third of respondents thought their government was doing enough to fight the disease.    The United Nations has warned that HIV/AIDS could wreak havoc in China, the world's most populous country, as it did in Africa (Alice Donald, BBC Online, Nov. 16).  An estimated 1 million Chinese are infected with HIV.    Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said the Chinese government has made "good progress" by admitting the disease exists.  Speaking on the BBC World Service Talking Point program, Piot said HIV/AIDS was a "truly global phenomenon" from which no country would be able to escape.    "If you think of the fact that in 20 years' time about 70 million people will have become infected with HIV, they are connected with each other," he said.  "No country will be safe from AIDS when there are others which still have a major AIDS problem" (BBC Online, Nov. 16).    In India, another country watched nervously by AIDS experts, the 1,500 survey respondents were better informed than those in China.  As in China, 10 percent of Indians did not know what HIV/AIDS was, but one-third named HIV/AIDS as their biggest concern.  Two-thirds thought their government was doing enough to deal with the disease (Donald, BBC Online).    The BBC's survey of 3,000 people in Russia and Ukraine revealed a high degree of ignorance in those countries, as well.  Although the disease affects a relatively small number of people in the two countries, it is growing quickly — yet only 8 percent of respondents identified HIV/AIDS as their chief concern.  Respondents from both countries thought sex education for people under 14 years was a good idea (Steven Eke, BBC Online, Nov. 16).    In Africa, by contrast, three-quarters of those surveyed ranked HIV/AIDS among their top concerns.  In Tanzania, two-thirds said it was their greatest fear, and more than half of Nigerians agreed.    Of the people in 15 countries surveyed, Nigerians were the best informed about HIV/AIDS, but fewer than half of them thought people under 14 should be taught how to use a condom.  The HIV/AIDS infection rate in Nigeria is 6 percent.    In South Africa, where more than one-fifth of adults are infected with the disease, only 26 percent said HIV/AIDS was their greatest concern.  Two-thirds of them thought their government was not doing enough to fight the disease, and 85 percent of them favored education about condoms for young people (Lara Pawson, BBC Online, Nov. 16). Visit the related web page
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