New Delhi: Two UN agencies on February 4 appreciated Indian efforts to curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS even as it warned that the South Asian region was facing the risk of a potential "catastrophe" due to the disease.

"Although the challenge is enormous, there are many examples in the region of communities mobilising to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS," Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS, said at a press conference at a two-day meeting of South Asian governments in Kathmandu. The reporters in India and Pakistan were connected to the press conference through telephone.

In Tamil Nadu, sustained prevention efforts had resulted in high-awareness levels among the general population. Focussed interventions had also led to a significant behaviour change among female sex workers, their clients and among young people, Piot said.

"India is also providing an example through its efforts to scale up its programmes to prevent mother-to-child transmission," Dr Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF, said adding an education programme in Andhra Pradesh had already reached 600,000 secondary school students.

However, leadership in the South Asian region must break the silence that denies the existence of HIV/AIDS and prevents discussion on the related human-rights violation, Bellamy said.

"South Asia stands at what epidemiologists call the tipping point in the trajectory of disease. Despite generally low prevalence levels, it is the most-affected region in the world after Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of people living with HIV/AIDS," Bellamy said.

PTI