JOHANNESBURG South Africa AP From bars in Hong Kong to the United Nations activists did what they could to turn the public's attention to the battle against AIDS which has reached epidemic proportions in developing countries. Although powerful new medicines are helping industrialized countries fight the disease it will kill millions of people this year alone and is hitting hardest continents where people can't afford the drugs. About 33.4 million people around the world are infected with HIV two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In Asia and the Pacific 700000 people become infected with HIV per year. In sub-Saharan Africa the 1998 death toll from AIDS is expected to be 2 million. Nearly 6 million more people will become infected this year 1.7 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa. ``In the case of HIV/AIDS the difference in wealth becomes literally matter of life and death'' decried Mary Robinson the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Across the globe Tuesday activists preached safe sex. People pinned red ribbons on lapels to express solidarity in the fight against AIDS. In San Juan Puerto Rico more than 3000 people formed a human red ribbon to commemorate World AIDS Day. ``It's important to be here to urge people to say `No' to AIDS and to protect themselves'' said Carlos Baerga a free agent baseball player most recently with the New York Mets. Those whose loved ones died from AIDS planned to toss carnations into the Atlantic Ocean in their memory. In India where up to 5 million people are HIV positive hundreds of schoolchildren marched beside prostitutes in New Delhi to draw attention to the epidemic. Israelis and Palestinians handed out condoms and literature to passengers departing Israel's international airport in Tel Aviv. In Ivory Coast thousands of children wearing T-shirts with anti-AIDS slogans and bouncing inflated condoms like beach balls marched through the streets of Abidjan. In Kenya children wearing black T-Shirts that said ``Stop AIDS'' distributed condoms and pamphlets on AIDS prevention in Dandora an eastern Nairobi slum. In Hong Kong's nightspots activists handed out coasters with pictures of a condom on one side and a safe-sex message on the other. In Tokyo Japan's Health Ministry held rallies and concerts in a central square. In Moscow a contraceptive company's employees sheathed in red yellow or green ``condom suits'' handed out condoms in Pushkin Square. In Pretoria South Africa clowns painted red AIDS ribbons on people's faces as drum majorettes entertained a crowd. Underneath it all was a life-and-death message: Practice safe sex of face the consequences. ``Come and witness the reality of AIDS. See the devastation in our community. See the fresh graves'' South African President Nelson Mandela told hundreds of people in a village in KwaZulu-Natal province where an estimated 25 percent of adults are infected with HIV. But considering the enormity of the problem the call to action worldwide was muted. In some countries like Zimbabwe where an estimated 23 percent of the population is infected with HIV World AIDS day passed with little fanfare. Countries in southern Africa have been slow to recognize the unfolding tragedy and have little resources to fight it. It was only in October that the South African government launched an AIDS awareness program. Already more than 3 million South Africans are infected. This year an estimated 168000 have died from AIDS. The vast majority of those infected in Africa and other developing regions cannot afford the drugs that are prolonging life among AIDS patients in the West. In Washington President Bill Clinton announced dlrs 10 million in emergency grants to help children orphaned by AIDS in poorer nations. Much more assistance would be needed to help turn the tide. Actress Sharon Stone speaking at the United Nations in New York urged parents to accept that they cannot control their children's urge to have sex and to provide them with condoms so they don't join the 7000 young people who are infected every day with HIV. Stone who campaigns for the American Foundation for AIDS Research spoke at a U.N. discussion on AIDS and youth. ``If you truly truly love your children you need to supply condoms in a place in your home at a quantity that makes it a non-judgmental situation for them to have them'' she said. And in New York a rally near City Hall was overshadowed by local politics focusing on complaints about tightfisted security that in recent months has all but cut off public access to the governmental building and its surrounding plaza. Several hundred demonstrators shielded by a federal court order were greeted with steel barricades metal detectors and scores of police when they arrived at City Hall Tuesday to recognize the worldwide threat of AIDS and recall its victims. Nobody was arrested and in the end police erected several barricaded pens in the parking lot one holding 150 demonstrators a second with people who addressed the crowd and a third to hold TV cameras and reporters. APW19981201.1077.txt.body.html APW19981201.0005.txt.body.html