here's another article about the aids problem that Japan is not really tackling at the moment.


While the rest of the world may be well aware of the crisis being faced because of the explosive spread of AIDS, the same can't be said for Japan, where the relaxed attitude to the scourge causes me concern.

When an announcement came at the end of 2004 that the number of AIDS patients and HIV carriers in Japan had topped 10,000 there was a terrible hullabaloo. By April 28, 2006, the number of patients had risen to 11,251, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. In Tokyo alone, for example, there were a record 417 patients. AIDS is increasing in Tokyo at a rate of more than one case a day. I often wonder if I'm the only person who realizes what dangers we're facing. These figures aren't some sort of estimate -- they're the real thing. And in Japan, where the public is not supportive toward AIDS testing, it's not hard to imagine that there are many people who aren't even aware that they have been infected. If people aren't taking precautions, the disease could be spreading.

Based on a report by the Japanese Society for AIDS Research, Komagome Hospital, probably an institution at the forefront of Japan's fight against AIDS, found out that only 9.3 percent of HIV carriers learned from a public health facility or AIDS testing organization they had contracted the disease compared to the 75 percent who first learned through a medical facility. What this means is that many people have no idea they've contracted HIV until it develops into full-blown AIDS. It is said the AIDS virus is dormant for anywhere from a few years to about a decade; but without testing, people are missing out on the chance of early detection.



You can read the rest here.