Bhutan: Reference Materials
 | Available evidence indicates that the prevalence of HIV in Bhutan remains low. However, there are indications of vulnerability. A recent general population survey found that the prevalence of conventional STIs is high. Download this publication |
| A systematic surveillance system for HIV and risk behaviours is essential for a country to monitor its prevalence of HIV and the risks of an epidemic as well as trends over time. All available evidence in Bhutan suggests that HIV prevalence is indeed low in the country but at the same time, risks may be high. Download this publication |
| Injecting drug use (opioids and pharmaceuticals) and HIV associated with injecting drug users (IDUs), has diffused rapidly in the South Asian region. Further, the sexual transmission of HIV from the IDUs to their non-injecting sexual partners has been established. Developing appropriate responses to this emerging problem requires a rapid situation and response assessment (RSRA) of drug users and their regular sexual partners. Download this publication |
| Bhutan is recognised as being a low prevalence nation for HIV. Although information on HIV/AIDS in Bhutan is limited there is data available from passive case reporting, a few studies and sentinel sero-surveillance conducted through government health care services. Download this publication |
| Bhutan is considered a very low prevalence country by UNAIDS. After the first case was identified in 1993, only 83 cases were identified as of April 2006. How- ever, 22 HIV infected cases (27%) were identified in 2004 alone and 6 already in 2006, indicating an increase in infections in recent years. With a total of 18 deaths among the identified HIV cases, there are currently 65 people identified in Bhutan to be living with HIV/AIDS 1. Of the identified cases, 10 have been moth- ers from which 8 children were infected through mother to child transmission1. Bhutan identified its first HIV/AIDS orphans in 2005, 3 children from one family, all of whom are HIV negative. Download this publication |
| Nestled in the remote eastern Himalayas, the tiny mountainous Kingdom of Bhutan is flanked by India to the south and the Tibet region of China to the north. Bhutan is a formal Buddhist state where power is shared by the king (“Druk Gyalpo”), Head of the Monastic Body (“Je Khenpo”) and the government. Despite its increasing living standards, the country remains largely closed to the outside world. Download this publication |
| The estimates and data provided in the following tables relate to 2005 unless stated otherwise. These estimates have been produced and compiled by UNAIDS/WHO. They have been shared with national AIDS programmes for review and comments, but are not necessarily the official estimates used by national governments. In order to calculate regional totals, older data or regional models were used to produce minimum estimates for these countries. Download this publication |
| In 2003 and during the first quarter of 2004, UNAIDS and WHO worked closely with national governments and research institutions to recalculate current estimates on people living with HIV/AIDS. These calculations are based on the previously published estimates for 1999 and 2001 and recent trends in HIV/AIDS surveillance in various populations. Download this publication |
| The Government of Bhutan has stated that HIV/AIDS prevention will remain high on its agenda. Attention will focus on capacity building for an effective national public health program and intensified health promotion interventions targeting vulnerable groups and border areas in the south. Download this publication |
