The World AIDS Day is confronted with a gloomy picture that shows the deadly virus is not abating, but spreading even faster.

　　Deaths and new cases of infection have reached unprecedented highs in 2003 and are likely to rise still further, according to a report jointly released last week by the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).

　　This year, some 5 million people have been infected, bringing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS to 40 million worldwide. At the same time, some 3 million died of the disease.

　　The epidemic continues to expand, far from reaching a plateau, health experts warn.

　　While Sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst affected region, the Asia-Pacific area - home to 60 per cent of the world's population - is shaping up as the new battleground in the fight against the disease, the report indicates.

　　Unless effective action is taken, some countries in the region may face major epidemics.China may become one of them should the country not be responsive to the crisis.

　　Latest statistics put the number of people with HIV/AIDS in China at 840,000, including 80,000 AIDS patients.

　　Worse, the momentum for further spreading of the numbers is continuing, and may well be accelerating.

　　Though the current prevalence in the country is still low, the increased infection rate plus the vast population in the nation points to a possible catastrophic explosion in cases in the absence of stepped up efforts to fight the disease.

　　Chinese AIDS experts have raised the alarm that people living with HIV/AIDS may soon soar to 10 million by 2010 without efficient prevention methods. While the number could be trimmed down to 3 million if prevention methods work, action, and only action, can make the difference.

　　Due to ignorance and lack of commitment among some, the disease has already caused great human suffering, economic losses and social devastation. Yet waiting ahead could be losses multiplied exponentially if the virus is not kept at bay.