Reuters reports one in four new infections occurs in Asia, home to more than half the world's people, and 1,500 in the region die from the disease each day.

Officials and aid workers said the risk of AIDS in areas struck by the tsunami had increased due to the breakdown in basic services and health-care systems, which left many people without access to condoms.

Jan Leno, UNAIDS secretariat says, "We're extremely concerned about the disaster and the increased risk of HIV and AIDS."

Officials point to the massive influx of military personnel and relief workers to the stricken areas. They say it adds to the crowded, stressful living conditions leading many men to seek out sex workers for relief and raising the chance HIV may spread.