WASHINGTON, July 12 (Hina) - The HIV/AIDS epidemic which in Croatia is in its early stages demands stronger action to prevent it from turning into a big problem, World Bank representatives said on Thursday.
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Hina) - The HIV/AIDS epidemic which in Croatia
is in its early stages demands stronger action to prevent it from
turning into a big problem, World Bank representatives said on
Thursday. #L#
According to the bank's data, there were 341 cases of HIV infection
logged in Croatia at the end of 2001, while 25-35 new cases are
reported every year.
Judging by the small number of HIV cases, the situation in Croatia
is not alarming and could barely be defined as an epidemic as the
World Bank claims in a recent report.
Presenting the report on the HIV/AIDS situation in Croatia,
Bulgaria, and Romania at a news conference, bank representatives
said little was known about the real situation in these countries
and that it could be much worse. They also cautioned about the
existence of conditions which might lead to a fast spread of the
infection.
This is an epidemic in its early stages, said Thomas Novotny, a
professor of epidemiology at University of California at San
Francisco and the chief author of the report.
Olusoji Adey, the World Bank's chief health expert for Europe and
Central Asia, defined the epidemic in Croatia, Bulgaria, and
Romania as the appearance of more cases of HIV/AIDS infection than
would normally be the case.
Croatia has a high 10-percent annual increase in the number of new
cases, which is cause for concern for World Bank experts.
Novotny said that not knowing the real increase in the number of HIV
patients in Croatia posed a big problem, and that in the three
mentioned countries the figure might be as much as ten times
higher.
The reason for the alarming tone in the report is the fact that the
HIV/AIDS epidemic can spread very easily unless preventive
measures are taken, and the purpose of the report is to incite
prevention.
The three countries have still not faced a catastrophe and the
report tells them what to do to prevent one from occurring, said
Adey.
The high risk factors for an HIV/AIDS epidemic in Croatia are drug
addicts, heterosexual relations, and prostitution, especially on
the Dalmatian coast because of the high flow of seamen, which
facilitates the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, said
Novotny.
The World Bank report notes that the supervision and examination of
new cases in Croatia are good. It adds, however, that the relatively
low number of positive cases is an obstacle to the acknowledgement
on the political level that there is a chance the epidemic might
spread fast.
Adey said Croatia needed to develop means of fighting HIV/AIDS
throughout the country and not concentrate them in Zagreb. With the
help of the World Bank, it should also step up information about the
infection and ways of preventing it, he added.
The World Bank has set aside US$3.3 million for fighting HIV/AIDS in
Croatia to date.
(hina) ha