The World Health Organization (WHO)on Thursday warned that insufficient self-awareness might jeopardize the fight against HIV/AIDS in the West Pacific region.

About 1.3 million people, including 21,000 children, were living with HIV/AIDS in the Western Pacific Region in 2007, but "the majority of people living with HIV still do not know they are sick," WHO said in a press release.

The Regional Committee, WHO's governing body in the Western Pacific, is currently meeting in Manila to review WHO's work in the Region, including progress on HIV/AIDS.

WHO said they not only miss the opportunity to access the available services, but may also unknowingly be spreading the disease.

WHO noted that while interventions for the prevention of HIV transmission are well established, their scale and coverage are often limited.

Marginalized populations such as sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men are the main drivers of the epidemic, but the HIV/AIDS access program coverage is limited and often fails to reach the wives, girlfriends and partners of these main drivers.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2008)