Countries across Asia are marking World AIDS day with public gatherings and other events geared towards promoting greater public awareness about the disease.
In Thailand's capital, Bangkok, AIDS activists are attempting to create the world's longest condom chain using a ribbon of 25,000 condoms.
In China, school girls decorated classrooms with red ribbons, the international symbol for AIDS awareness. The state run China Daily said that the country is to begin promoting condom use among its homosexual population. Other events were marked in countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.
North Korea, meanwhile, claimed that it no cases of AIDS at all, attributing the absence to the guidance of Kim Jong-Il. International health organizations rarely receive definitive data on AIDS in North Korea, one of the world's most secretive
nations.
Information for this report is provided by AP and AFP.