A new TV soap opera is gaining popularity in South Korea with the tear-jerking tale of an 8-year-old girl infected by the virus that causes AIDS — a disease that still invites more ostracism than sympathy here.

The MBC network show "Thank You" has been winning top ratings in its time slot with the story of a young HIV carrier — a rare topic for South Korean dramas that typically focus on forbidden love or secret love affairs.

Since its premiere in March, the show's viewership across the country steadily rose to reach 18.5 percent of viewers last Thursday, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research.

In the show, the child Lee Bom becomes infected with HIV through a blood transfusion. When villagers find out she has the virus they pressure Bom and her family — her single mom and great-grandfather suffering from Alzheimer's — to leave the small island village. They fear, out of ignorance, that they will also get infected for just being near her.

The portrayal of the strong stigma attached to AIDS reflects low awareness of the disease in South Korea, where AIDS is becoming increasingly a social issue even though the rate of the disease's spread here is relatively low.

"People's knowledge of the disease has increased, but discrimination and prejudice against HIV carriers and AIDS patients are still very strong and widespread," said Kim Hoon-soo, executive director at the Korea Confederation for HIV-AIDS Prevention. "This is not something that can be changed overnight."

South Korea has a relatively low number of people living with HIV — 3,891 as of March, according to government statistics. But experts say the actual number could be at least three or four times higher — some 13,000 by a U.N. estimate — with many reluctant to take HIV tests due to the social stigma of the disease.

The number of new infections is on the rise, reaching a record 751 last year — more than double the figure recorded in 2001 when 327 new cases were found.

The stigma of AIDS in this deeply Confucian society also arises from people associating the disease with cheating on partners or engaging in inappropriate intercourse, Kim said. Sexual contact was the cause for the spread of HIV infections in nearly 99 percent of the cases so far reported, according to government data.

A 2005 survey showed 52 percent of 2,022 South Koreans said they would not send their children to a school where there was an HIV carrier, according to South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 40 percent of those surveyed also said HIV sufferers should be quarantined in special facilities, according to the survey.

Producers of the new TV drama said they wanted to tell "the story of violence that rises from prejudice, discrimination and stereotype."

The story is aimed as a protest against "foolish people who carelessly stamp on other people's lives, believing what little knowledge they have randomly picked up is the grand truth," the producers wrote on the show's Web site, which also provides factual information about AIDS.

"This kind of drama will help greatly to improve the public's perception of the disease," said Nam Jeong-gu, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, the center for the first time produced a TV drama on an HIV sufferer as part of a campaign to address misperceived public fears about AIDS. But the two-episode show only made it to cable television and an educational TV channel, because South Korea's three major broadcasters — KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corp.) and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) — "expressed difficulties in airing the show that touched on the sensitive issue of AIDS," Nam said.

In a recent episode of "Thank You," which runs through May, Bom learned why her mom told her never to ask for help when she bleeds.

"Wipe off the blood by yourself," the girl is told. "And make sure you put the handkerchief you used in a plastic bag and seal it before throwing it away."

Bom is bewildered and hurt when her friends do not show up for class after learning she has HIV. Villagers run away in fear when seeing her, and a neighbor locks up Bom's great-grandfather thinking the old man has also caught the virus from living with her.

The girl breaks into tears when a woman yells at her to get away as she tries to touch the woman's baby, murmuring between sobs: "Everyone is strange. Everyone is very, very strange."

The night Bom finds out on the Internet that she carries a virus that is contagious, she wraps herself with a blanket and stays as far away as possible from her mom as they sleep next to each other. The next morning, she is gone, leaving a note that reads: "Mom, please have a happy life. Don't look for Bom."

Knowing a partner's HIV status before sex is a growing prevention method among young gay men, although risky behavior likely to transmit the virus is on the rise, according to two new U.S. studies.

The studies, which used virtually the same method to look at the prevalence and risk of HIV infection among gay men in San Francisco, also found that more effective therapies to fight the virus may be prompting uninfected men to use fewer protections when engaging in sex.

Sandra Schwarcz, an epidemiologist at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said the studies point to a need to better understand the growing practice of choosing a sexual partner based on their HIV status -- something researchers termed serosorting.

"The behaviors of gay men with committed partners were less risky than (those with) partners they were not committed to," she said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "This has been a change."

In Schwarcz's study, researchers questioned a group of men who knew they were infected with HIV and another group who were either HIV negative or did not know their status to see what activities might be spurring risky behavior.

Use of drugs such as methamphetamines and the fact that many men not infected with HIV were now less careful because of more effective HIV treatments were some of the reasons researchers cited for the increase in unprotected sex.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since the incurable disease was first recognized in 1981 and about 40 million now live with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

While the studies looked at gay men only in San Francisco, researchers said the results were a likely indicator of what is happening in other cities across the United States.

Dennis Osmond, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, said his study found that the number of gay men engaging in unprotected anal sex with a partner of a different HIV or unknown status rose from about 9 percent in 1997 to nearly 15 percent in 2002.

At the same time, however, there was an increasing trend among gay men to choose sexual partners with the same HIV status.

"When you are practicing it, it is a way of reducing risk," he said in an interview. "It appears it is a trend that has been growing in the last decade, especially among young men."

Both studies found that about a quarter of the gay men in San Francisco were HIV positive.

Syphilis has risen sharply among gay and bisexual men in the United States this decade, driving up the country's rate for the disease and placing these men at higher risk for AIDS, federal health officials say.

Since dropping to the lowest level on record in 2000, the U.S. rate of syphilis, a sexually transmitted bacterial disease, has risen steadily, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said on Friday.

The rate rose five years in a row through 2005, the most recent year for which the CDC had figures.

Gay and bisexual men accounted for 7 percent of syphilis cases in 2000 but more than 60 percent in 2005, CDC experts estimated.

"The most devastating consequence of this increase in syphilis cases would be an increase in the rates of HIV infection," said Dr. Khalil Ghanem of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

"Syphilis and HIV have a close, deadly symbiotic relationship."

CDC epidemiologist Dr. James Heffelfinger said syphilis, like many other sexually transmitted diseases, raises the likelihood of infection by or transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.

Syphilis raises these risks by an estimated two to five times, he said.

Condom use can greatly reduce the risk of getting syphilis, which is readily curable with antibiotics in its early stages but capable of causing severe medical problems and even death if left untreated.

"We are seeing that syphilis is on the rise among a very specific subset of gay men: those who are having a great deal of sex with multiple sex partners," said Joel Ginsberg, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association in San Francisco.

Many are HIV-infected or test positive for HIV for the first time when they learn they have syphilis, he said.

'WHY BOTHER?'

"Among these men, there seems to be decreased condom use, perhaps related to an attitude of 'I already have HIV, so why bother?' or because HIV is seen as a chronic disease that can be managed well with medications," Ginsberg said.

Tremendous progress was made against syphilis in the 1990s. In 1999, the CDC announced an initiative to fully eliminate it from the United States.

After reaching 50,000 cases and a rate of 20.3 cases per 100,000 people in 1990 -- the highest since 1949 -- public health efforts helped drive down the rate to 2.1 per 100,000 people in 2000.

But the rate rose to 3 per 100,000 in 2005, with 8,724 cases, the CDC said.

"We're concerned that we're seeing this upturn among men who have sex with men because it could foreshadow bigger increases," CDC epidemiologist Dr. Hillard Weinstock said.

Ghanem of Johns Hopkins faulted the gay and bisexual community, public health leaders and the medical establishment for failing to get across a message of prevention, citing "safe-sex fatigue" after the advent of powerful AIDS drugs in the 1990s.

"Once these wonder drugs came along, patients no longer saw HIV as a death sentence, and clinicians unfortunately became more lackadaisical about conveying prevention messages," Ghanem said.

Use of a smokable form of the illegal drug methamphetamine known as "crystal meth" also is associated with unsafe sexual practices linked to syphilis, Ghanem said.

The syphilis rate among men is nearly six times higher than for women. The vast majority of male cases is among gays and bisexuals.

More than a third of British homosexuals who are infected with the AIDS virus continue to have unprotected sex, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

The investigation was carried out in 2003 and 2004 among 2,640 men in London, Manchester and Brighton who filled out questionnaires.

Most of the volunteers also provided a saliva sample for HIV testing, and the results showed that among those with the AIDS virus, only a third knew they had been infected.

Thirty-seven percent of HIV-positive men said they had had unprotected sex with more than one partner in the past year, while the rate among HIV-negative men was 18 percent.

The survey appears in the latest issue of the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, published by the British Medical Association (BMA).

The authors, led by Julie Dodds of the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research at University College London, say they are worried.

The high rates of unsafe sex and ignorance about HIV status occurred despite an awareness campaign and access to condoms, virus testing and antiretroviral drugs, they note.

The South African government and AIDS campaigners buried the hatchet Monday with the launch of a joint national body to oversee a programme aimed at halving the country's rate of new infections.

The formation of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), which is to be chaired by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, marks a radical shift in the relationship between the government and lobby groups who last year demanded the resignation of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

Long-time critics of the minister, currently recovering after a liver transplant, said they were delighted to now be working in a partnership with the government, which also expressed satisfaction at the agreement.

Acting health minister Jeff Radebe said the council was a "true expression of our multi-sectoral response to HIV and AIDS in the country."

"We have set up the necessary coordinating structure and we have all agreed on the five-year Strategic Plan to address HIV and AIDS," he said at the council's launch near Johannesburg, referring to a programme unveiled earlier this year.

The plan's main targets are to cut the number of new infections in half by the end of 2011 and increase levels of care to 80 percent of sufferers and their families in a country with the world's second highest incidence of HIV.

"It is now time to get down to the real business of implementation," Radebe said.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the country's top AIDS lobby which was among Tshabalala-Msimang's greatest detractors, is among many represented on the new council.

It said the new five-year programme was commendable but the council had to be more than just window-dressing.

"It has been a very arduous process. Whilst it is not a perfect plan, it's by far the best plan the country has ever had," TAC spokesman Mark Heywood told AFP.

"The real challenge is going to be implementation. SANAC has to be more than a talkshop," he added.

The council has no legal power and is merely an advisory body but Mlambo-Ngcuka's presence is a sign of the importance that the government attaches to it.

"What distinguishes SANAC from other work that we do, is that it is us working together as partners," she said at the launch.

A spokeswoman for a number of civil society groups also hailed the government for allowing widespread consultation on the new AIDS plan.

"We are excited with the extent to which we have been consulted in the development of the plan," said Hendrieta Bogopane-Zulu.

The Bush administration criticized Thailand on Monday for steps it took to override drug patents of certain life-saving drugs, calling the issue a "serious concern."

The U.S. Trade Representative's office, in an annual report on how well countries protect U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR), said it was elevating Thailand to its "priority watch list" because of an "overall deterioration in the protection and enforcement of IPR in Thailand."

"In late 2006 and early 2007, there were further indications of a weakening of respect for patents, as the Thai Government announced decisions to issue compulsory licenses for several patented pharmaceutical products," USTR said.

"While the United States acknowledged a country's ability to issue such licenses in accordance with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules, the lack of transparency exhibited in Thailand represents a serious concern," USTR said.

The USTR did not mention any medicines by name, but appeared to be referring to the Thai government's decision to issue compulsory licenses for certain AIDS drugs.

Shortly after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted last September, Thailand declared compulsory licenses to make or buy generic equivalents of an AIDS drug owned by Merck & Co..

Then it overrode patents on another AIDS drug owned by Abbott Laboratories and a heart disease drug owned by Sanofi-Aventis, prompting an outcry from the companies and praise from HIV patient rights groups.

Abbott has been criticized for its aggressive pricing of AIDS drugs in developing countries and the company has said it would stop launching new drugs in Thailand to protest the Thai government's decision in January to override international drug patents.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took steps Friday to let Brazil buy an inexpensive generic version of an AIDS drug made by Merck & Co. despite the U.S. drug company's patent.

Silva issued a "compulsory license" that would bypass Merck's patent on the AIDS drug efavirenz, a day after the Brazilian government rejected Merck's offer to sell the drug at a 30 percent discount, or $1.10 per pill, down from $1.57.

The country was seeking to purchase the drug at 65 cents a pill, the same price Thailand pays.

It was the first time Brazil has bypassed a patent, but Silva said Brazil would consider doing so again on any drug sold at unfair prices. "Between our business and our health, we are going to take care of our health," he said after signing the decree.

Amy Rose, a spokeswoman for Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck, said earlier that the company would be "profoundly disappointed if Brazil goes ahead with a compulsory license."

"As the world's 12th largest economy, Brazil has a greater capacity to pay for HIV medicines than countries that are poorer or harder hit by the disease," Merck said in a statement after Silva's announcement.

A compulsory license is a legal mechanism that allows a country to manufacture or buy generic versions of patented drugs while paying the patent holder only a small royalty.

Brazilian law and rules established under the World Trade Organization allow compulsory licenses in a health emergency or if the pharmaceutical industry uses abusive pricing.

After Thailand moved to override patents on three anti-AIDS drugs, including those made by Abbott Laboratories and Merck, the United States placed Thailand on a list of copyright violators.

In Thailand's capital of Bangkok, AIDS activists rallied outside the U.S. Embassy on Thursday to protest that decision, calling the Thai government's move to slash the cost of pricey U.S.-made AIDS drugs a "lifesaver."

The president of the U.S.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Michael Weinstein, called Brazil's action a "victory," saying in a statement, "We salute the courage of countries such as Brazil, Thailand and Mexico who are fighting to ensure drug access for AIDS patients the world over.

"Drug companies will go down in defeat every time they place themselves in the way of justice for AIDS patients," he said.

But the U.S.-Brazil Business Council said the decision was a "major step backward" in intellectual property law and warned it could harm development.

"Brazil is working to attract investment in innovative industries ... and this move will likely cause investments to go elsewhere," the council said in a statement.

Although Brazil had threatened to bypass drug patents in the past, the country had always reached a last-minute agreement with drug manufacturers.

Brazil provides free AIDS drugs to anyone who needs them and manufactures generic versions of several drugs that were in production before Brazil enacted an intellectual property law in 1997 to join the WTO.

But as newer drugs have emerged, costs ballooned and health officials warned that without deep discounts, they would be forced to issue compulsory licenses.

Efavirenz is used by 75,000 of the 180,000 Brazilians who receive free AIDS drugs from the government. The drug currently costs about the government about $580 per patient per year.

"The price is 136 percent higher than this lab (Merck) offers to Thailand," Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao said, and the price "threatened the viability of the anti-AIDS program."

The Health Ministry says a generic version of efavirenz would save the government some $240 million between now and 2012, when Merck's patent expires.