Four Central Asian countries and several international organizations signed an agreement on Monday to jointly fight the growing threat of AIDS epidemic in the region. The agreement lays grounds for a joint anti-AIDS project between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the World Bank, the United Nation\'s AIDS agency and the British government\'s Department for International Development. According to the World Bank, the number of registered HIV cases in formerly Soviet Central Asia has been growing at the rate of the epidemic — from about 500 new cases in 2000 to more than 8,000 this year. According to official figures, the countries have around 90,000 HIV-infected or AIDS patients. The rapid spread of the disease is driven by the increasing intravenous drug use in the impoverished region, which is a major trafficking route for Afghan drugs. Other causes are increased prostitution and migration. The new regional project is worth an estimated $25 million, with the World Bank contributing $20 million. Under the agreement, the countries pledge to work out and follow a joint strategy in fighting the disease and create a regional AIDS fund. World Bank country director for Central Asia Dennis de Tray called the agreement \"an important advance\" in efforts to prevent a widespread HIV/AIDS epidemic. \"Immediate action is essential if we are to prevent and control its spread and avoid the huge costs an epidemic would bring,\" he told reporters in the Kazakh commercial capital Almaty. Uninhibited spread of the disease in the region with a population of about 60 million could by 2015 slow down economic growth in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan by 10 percent and in Uzbekistan by 21 percent, according to the World Bank. Turkmenistan, which is also part of the region, has declared neutrality and does not recognize AIDS and drug problem. (AP)