Small island nations in Pacific region called Friday for more international support against HIV/AIDS.

The Premier and Health Minister of the tiny Pacific island of Niue said his government now requires HIV testing for all visitors staying longer than two months.

"It's only a matter of time before Niue gets its first case. We 're only less than 2,000 people," said Young Vivian.

"If we are eradicated (by AIDS) from this world, wiped off the map, I'm sure that you will miss us. It's absolutely scary as a leader of a small island country," said Young Vivian.

About 600 new cases of HIV and 200 deaths occur daily in the World Health Organization's vast Western Pacific region, Richard Nesbit, the organization's acting regional director said at a week long annual meeting in Auckland, New Zealand.

The 57th session of the WHO Regional Committee meeting of the 34 Ministers of Health and Directors of Health is discussing control and intervention strategies, immunization, tobacco control and environmental health. The WHO was also expected to discuss its budget for 2008-2009.

In Fiji, despite growing concern over HIV infections over the past decade, too few resources have gone towards monitoring the impact of education and behavior change programs, said an official.

He said of the 10 HIV-related cases in the Northern Division of Fiji, one person turns up at the clinic for medication, medical officials see four during home visits while five have not returned.

Papua New Guinea is already facing a generalized epidemic, and its health minister said earlier in the week that isolated pockets within the country could have HIV rates as high as 30 percent.

The country, which shares an island north of Australia with Indonesia's easternmost Papua province, is the hardest-hit in the Asia-Pacific with an adult per capita infection rate of 1.8 percent, according to UNAIDS figures.

Secretary of Health Nicholas Mann said rich countries need to pay more attention to his poor island nation of 5.7 million people.

He said the United States, for example, has not offered his country any funding to help fight the virus.

He said any assistance that does arrive must be directed properly in order to make a difference in a diverse country where hundreds of languages are spoken.

In a Friday's statement from WHO Western Pacific Region, it pledged to scale up HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities in line with the goal of universal access for HIV/AIDS treatment throughout Asia and the Pacific by 2010.

It said the move follows the joint launching by WHO and UNAIDS of the "3 by 5 Initiative" in 2003 to support the expansion of access to antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle- income countries to 3 million people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005. The initiative has increased the lifespan of many people living with HIV/AIDS.

WHO officials noted each country needs to determine its priority strategies, targets, interventions and activities for scaling up universal access.

WHO officials said UNAIDS and WHO are committed to support countries, including small countries, in this process and will continue to develop policies and guidelines to support countries in expanding HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities.

Source: Xinhua