WASHINGTON -- The numbers of HIV/AIDS cases in China and India are reaching crisis proportions and could threaten the world economy, a U.N. expert says.

Swift action is needed to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia, where the number of cases is rising rapidly in many countries, head of the U.N. AIDS program Peter Piot said at a conference in Washington ahead of Wednesday's observance of World AIDS Day, Channel NewsAsia reported.

Piot called for stronger international efforts to fight AIDS in Asia and Eastern Europe, without cutting back on efforts in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is already an epidemic.

China says some 840,000 of its people were infected with HIV in 2003, but experts believe the actual figure is much higher. The World Health Organization has predicted that China could have 10 million AIDS sufferers by 2010 unless effective measures are taken quickly.

India has the world's second-highest number of AIDS cases, at an estimated 5.1 million, after South Africa.

The U.N. report said both countries had failed to prevent HIV infections from spreading beyond drug users and sex workers to the general population.

Copyright 2004 by United Press International