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UN AIDS chief: Spread of HIV in E. Europe is scary
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 24, 2010; 7:51 AM

VIENNA -- The U.N.'s top AIDS official says the spread of HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is frightening.

The U.N. estimates that 1.4 million people were living with HIV in the region in 2009 - almost triple the number in 2000 - and that the Russian Federation and Ukraine account for nearly 90 percent of newly reported infections.

UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe told reporters Wednesday that "we are scared" by what was happening and called for more access to prevention programs in the region.

He also warned that drug users have become transmitters of the virus because they don't have access to services and "have to go underground."