The 80s are back in Asia - and not in a good way.

United Nations health officials warned this week that gay men in Asia are contracting HIV at about the same rate as American gay men did during the virus' initial outbreak:

Launching his agency's 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic, Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director, urged more action to prevent the spread of the disease among gay men who have unsafe sex and stressed the importance of working with affected communities.

"All over Asia there are now epidemics of HIV in men who have sex with men of the same magnitude that we saw in this country 25 years ago," Piot said.

"That is something that has been detected fairly recently. There is not enough action yet but we are now starting programs," he added.

Lack of funding and education, as well as unsafe sex, were cited as possible reasons for the frightening numbers.