Asian Women at Risk for HIV Infection From Partners: Report

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A new study says more than 1.5 million Asian women with HIV were infected by their intimate partners and 50 million more are at risk of HIV infection from their partners.

UNAIDS, a United Nations program, said the women at risk are married to or in long-term relationships with high-risk men, such as those who have sex with other men, are clients of sex workers, or use injection drugs, Agence France Presse reported.

In 2008, women accounted for 35 percent of all adult HIV infections in Asia, compared with 17 percent in 1990, the study said. Married women now account for the largest number of new HIV infections in Cambodia, India and Thailand.

This is "a problem of great magnitude that the countries have largely ignored (and) a challenge that we may no longer ignore," said UNAIDS regional director Prasada Rao, AFP reported.