The United Nations estimates that in the last two decades about 65 million people have contacted the HIV/AIDS disease and that about 25 million of them have already died. This relatively new but rapidly spreading disease has so far been concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa where an estimated 70 percent of the world's 40 million active AIDS carriers are located. But what about the future? Will the African experience repeat itself in other parts of the globe?

In this health policy discussion, AEI resident scholar Nicholas Eberstadt reports on his recent study about the threat of HIV/AIDS in Eurasia, an area of the world that contains 60 percent of the world's population and, unlike sub-Saharan Africa, is a substantial economic, political, and military player in world affairs. He looks in detail at three Eurasia countries, India, China, and Russia, and what we know about the factors that will affect the future spread of HIV/AIDS in each.

Are we facing an Asian pandemic that will, in Eberstadt's words, "derail the economic prospects of billions and alter the global military balance"? Or, unlike Africa, will these more advanced countries launch an effective prevention program? Helping us to address these questions will be Keith Hansen, Manager, ACTafrica (AIDS Campaign Team for Africa), World Bank.