Publications

An estimated total of 717 million young people aged 15 to 24 live in the Asia-Pacific region, comprising 60 per cent of the world's youth. In Asia and Pacific, HIV epidemics are concentrated within the MSM and transgender communities, and younger counterparts of these communities are more vulnerable. 95 percent of all new infections among young people occur among the most at risk adolescent populations. According to UNAIDS Data Hub, in 2013, 610,000 young people (15-24) are living with HIV in Asia-Pacific. In response to the rising epidemic, UNAIDS 90-90-90 Strategy, specifically discusses the importance of taking specific steps to increase HIV testing among young people, expand treatment options for adolescents, adapt health services to adolescents’ needs, mobilize social support, and empower young people. The game changers introduced for Asia and Pacific in the strategy includes scaling up prevention programmes for men who have sex with men and transgender people, including condoms and PrEP, especially for us – the younger generation.

Over the last two years, countries have made progress in scaling up access to HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. However continued late diagnosis of HIV infection and the unacceptably high proportion of people living with HIV not linked to care result in a low proportion of PLHIV who achieve viral suppression. National AIDS and STI programme managers met in Manila in 2015 to agree on concrete actions towards reaching the 90-90-90 targets and related prevention and stigma targets by 2020.

The aim of the program is to create enabling and empowering environment in the selected countries to enhance the engagement of young key populations in the Global Fund processes at country level, with following specific objectives: (i) To synthesize and generate strategic information in relation to HIV and young people to inform the National Strategic Plan review and Investment Cases; (ii) Ensure youth partners have the skills and knowledge to influence the country dialogue for adequately resourced HIV responses for young people; and (iii) Ensure programmes funded through the NFM targeting young people are designed and implemented in full partnership with young people to ensure programmes are effective. 

This paper sets out the ways in which current drug control efforts are already impacting upon the development sector’s efforts to achieve sustainable development, highlighting specific areas of policy incoherence between drug control and development, as well as recommendations for the way forward, which must be recognised and addressed if we are to fully achieve the new Goals and Targets set out in the Sustainable Development Agenda. The development sector has so far remained largely absent from debates on drug policy reform, but if it is serious about achieving the SDGs it can no longer remain silent.

This National Strategic Plan for HIV and STIs 2014-2018 provides strategic guidance and direction to all individuals, groups, organisations and agencies responsible for contributing to the national HIV and STI response in the Solomon Islands. This plan is based upon the commitments of the Government of the Solomon Islands to its people. The National Strategic Plan for HIV and STIs 2014-2018 has been designed to assist all stakeholders to develop their annual activity plans to meet national strategic priorities. Due to the five year duration of the National Strategic Plan, it is acknowledged that these priorities may change as a result of altered disease prevalence and patterns (perhaps resulting from changed behaviours and practices of some groups and/or improved surveillance and testing).

We have made incredible progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. But we are starting to see a dangerous level of complacency which threatens to reverse the real achievements made so far. The world stands at a critical juncture: if we act with urgency in the next five years, we could end AIDS as an epidemic by 2030. But achieving this goal will require $12 billion annually more by 2020, targeted more effectively to reach the most vulnerable. Our new report calls on governments to prioritize support for the Global Fund; leaders in sub-Saharan Africa to invest more domestic resources in health; and the private sector to play a greater role.

Until recently, diagnosis and treatment of HCV was complex. Suitable tools for screening and diagnosis were lacking, and treatment was hampered by limited efficacy and severe side effects. New medicines for the treatment of HCV have revolutionized HCV treatment. Combinations of these new medicines, which are generally well-tolerated and effective, can cure HCV in 12 weeks. This offers a huge opportunity to address HCV, in particularly among HIV/HCV co-infected people, who are more vulnerable as they progress faster to serious disease than HCV mono-infected people.

A diverse set of data is a pre-requisite for effective planning and governance. The Sindh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is an important source of accurate and reliable data on a comprehensive set of socioeconomic indicators. The purpose of the survey is to provide statistically valid data for researchers, policy makers, planners, and individual’s vis-à-vis evidence based decision, program and policy making, in-depth analysis and future forecast regarding human development. MICS is a unique source of information in which more than 120 indicators are covered on the basis of the province, 5 divisions, 28 districts as well as area of residence and background. MICS also provides high-quality data on household’s characteristics, child mortality, nutrition, child health, reproductive health, ante-natal health checks, child development, education and literacy, water and sanitation, wealth quintiles and poverty status.

In Cambodia, gender norms remain heavily rooted in society, creating inequality between men and women and depriving women of their basic rights. While violence against women is considered immoral and unacceptable in Cambodian culture, domestic violence is considered to be justifiable in this society. Nearly 60 per cent of men believe that women should tolerate domestic violence to keep her family together and 28 per cent believe that there are occasions where a woman deserves to be beaten. The "Good Men Campaign" is a 5-year national social behavioural change campaign that was launched in 2011. Its primary goal was to challenge gender norms and encourage the 3.5 million men and boys aged 15 to 49 to change their attitudes and behavior towards women.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Secretariat organize an annual meeting with pharmaceutical companies and stakeholders to discuss antiretroviral (ARV) drug demand forecasts for adults and children. The March 2015 meeting went beyond the usual three-year forecast by including a model of new ARVs that will be needed up to 2024. For the first time this year, the meeting also included a discussion on hepatitis B and C medicines.