Changing faces: trends in HIV and AIDS in Asia and opportunities to reverse them

A World Vision Asia Pacific Advocacy Reference.
Nearly 30 years after the first cases of HIV were diagnosed in Asia and the Pacific, the number of people living with HIV and AIDS in the region continues to climb, in some areas at an alarming rate. The 2009 UNAIDS Epidemic Update reported that aprox 5 million people were now HIV-positive in Asia. In Asia, 35% of people living with HIV and AIDS are women.

A World Vision Asia-Pacific report (2007) focusing on Cambodia, India, Papua New Guinea and Thailand highlights that groups traditionally considered at risk, such as sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men and intravenous drug users, continue to contract the virus, but that around a quarter of new infections are not in these groups. One of the most tragic trends is the increase in mother-to-child transmission, especially in areas where testing facilities are limited or the virus is heavily stigmatised. In Cambodia, one third of all new infections are babies. There are real fears that the dire impacts of AIDS in Africa will be repeated in Asia and the Pacific. Yet these trends are reversible, the threats avoidable. Urgent action is needed across all sectors of society, not just those considered high-risk.

August 2010

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