AIDS epidemic critical in Asia-Pacific

The AIDS epidemic in Asia and the Pacific is at a critical juncture, needing a greater and sustained effort, says a United Nations report. An estimated 4.9 million people were living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific in 2009, according to the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report. Although, the region has seen a 20-percent drop in new infections between 2001 and 2009, and a three-fold increase in access to antiretroviral therapy since 2006, the progress is threatened by an inadequate focus on key populations at higher risk of HIV and insufficient funding from both domestic and international sources, warned the report presented at the 2011 International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, in Busan, South Korea. In addition, while more people have access to HIV services, most of the Asia-Pacific countries are far from universal goals for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The report also cited that Cambodia, India, Myanmar and Thailand have significantly reduced their HIV infection rates. In addition, the rate of HIV in children in the whole region has dropped by 15 percent since 2006 but the coverage of HIV preventive services for kids continues to lag behind global averages. Stigmatization of patients with HIV and high risk people is still a problem and around 90 percent of the countries in the region retain punitive laws and policies that effectively prevent people living with HIV and key populations from accessing life-saving HIV services, report added. Investments to protect key populations from HIV remain insufficient. An estimated 1.1 billion dollars was spent on the AIDS response in 30 countries across the region in 2009 that was just one third of the funding needed to achieve universal access goals. “Getting to zero new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific will demand national responses based on science and the best available evidence,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe. “HIV programs must be sufficiently resourced and solidly focused on key populations. Investments made today will pay off many-fold in the future,” he stressed