The World - News from June 25, 1987

The head of the World Health Organization said that the spread of AIDS to Asia has the potential for a “major catastrophe.” Dr. Halfdan Mahler, director general of the U.N. agency, warned that “if you allow AIDS to get into the powder keg of Asia, then we really are going to have a problem.” Mahler said that Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, appear to be particularly vulnerable. So far, he said, only 151 Asian cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome have been reported to the Geneva-based agency.