appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Mary Ann Benitez

The American scientist who invented the cocktail therapy to treat Aids says Hong Kong may have to follow Thailand's example to improve public education on the disease.

David Ho Ta-yi, director of the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Centre in New York, was speaking after taking part in an Asia Society panel discussion on 'HIV/Aids: the challenge in Asia'.

Thai senator Mechai Viravaidya, known as 'Mr Condom' for the high-profile crusade he has led against HIV/Aids in his country, had everyone laughing with his off-the-cuff remarks about how the message of HIV prevention could be made more interesting.

Dr Ho said: 'We need a charismatic person like him to really push it. I do not quite see a Chinese official with the same characteristics.'

He said the problem of HIV/Aids would worsen on the mainland. The group UNAids has forecast that the number of cases will rise from 1 million to up to 20 million in five years.

'It is going to get worse but we have got to make sure it is not as bad as 10 or 20 million,' Dr Ho said.

The Asia Society panellists also included Marina Mahathir - daughter of retired Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad - who is  a prominent Aids campaigner in her country, and Wan Yanhai,  who helped bring public attention to the Aids crisis in Henan province, where thousands were infected through blood donations.

Mr Mechai called for sustained public education on Aids and said this would only be possible with the political will of government leaders. 'Unless we do that, it won't work. I have not yet seen many signs around in Hong Kong about HIV/Aids.'

Mr Wan said that although Beijing authorities had shown better understanding of HIV, the message had not filtered down to provincial or county officials.



HK needs a 'Mr Condom' to highlight Aids risks, says scientist