Publications

Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It goes beyond simply providing education about reproduction, risks and diseases by also addressing positive sexuality and relationships, and the broader sociocultural and gender influences on sexual and reproductive health, with an emphasis on developing life skills. School-based age-appropriate CSE is an effective means of reaching a large population of children and young people, particularly where rates of school participation are high. This overview of the status of in-school CSE in Asia and the Pacific provides a strong evidence base on the reach and impact of this across the region.

The impact of gender inequality on the HIV response efforts is widely acknowledged, yet, efforts to rectify this are lagging. UN Women, with the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health, convened an Expert Group Meeting on financing for gender equality in the HIV response and commissioned seven discussion papers to identify existing gaps and map recommendations for action.

This policy brief explores the ways in which being a migrant accentuates the risks of women and girls to various forms of gender-based violence at all stages of migration and examines how this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief concludes with a set of recommendations on how to reduce the risks of gender-based violence and improve the provision and coordination of essential services for women and girls.

Focus on location and population is fundamental to an efficient AIDS response. HIV Estimates 2019 report provides vital epidemiological evidence to the programme managers at all levels for prioritization of locations for bottom-up AIDS response. The report identifies 144 districts where either the adult HIV prevalence is ≥1% or the size of people living with HIV (PLHIV) is ≥5000. Together, these 144 districts are estimated to have 63% of PLHIV, 49% of new infections and 55% of PMTCT need in 2019. This is a critical piece of evidence for planning, consolidating and expanding services across the prevention–detection– treatment continuum putting people at the centre, and the prioritization of locations where investments in AIDS response can do more people more good.

The 'Sankalak' provides the epidemic status and programmatic reach across prevention, testing, treatment and retention continuum in he challenging context of COVID-19 pandemic in year 2020-21. This document highlights the results of country efforts in maintaining and augmenting the AIDS response through State and National-level initiatives.

Molecular HIV surveillance (MHS) is an umbrella term that describes a wide range of practices focused on the monitoring of HIV variants and the differences and similarities between them for scientific research, public health surveillance and intervention.  This briefing paper was developed for people living with HIV, activists, legal experts, and human rights campaigners to understand the complexities and consequences of MHS – a growing research and public health surveillance practice that has concerning implications for human rights.

Each year more than USD 100 billion is estimated to be spent on global drug law enforcement. This is over 750 times the amount allocated to harm reduction services for people who use drugs. Despite overwhelming evidence in favour of following a health and human rights-based approach to drug control, governments around the world, including many in Asia, continue to prioritise punitive responses to drugs. This approach has deterred, and in some cases prohibited, people who use drugs from accessing health and social services.  It has also fuelled mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings, torture, the use of the death penalty, discriminatory policing and the stigmatisation of people who use drugs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a global TB report every year since 1997. The purpose of the report is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the status of the TB epidemic and progress in the response at global, regional and national levels, in the context of global commitments, strategies and targets. The 2020 report included a provisional assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB services, TB disease burden and progress towards targets. This 2021 edition provides updated, more definitive and more wide-ranging results.

In 2015, to advance the global and national response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the World Health Assembly issued resolution WHA68.7 calling for all Member States to develop AMR national action plans that address the five objectives of the World Health Organization Global Action Plan (GAP) by May 2017. The WHO GAP provides a framework to support countries in developing their national action plans on AMR. To operationalize and accelerate implementation of national action plans on AMR, WHO has developed a costing and budgeting tool and accompanying user guide. The purpose is to support countries in costing prioritized activities of an operational plan linked to their AMR national action plan, and identify existing funding and funding gaps to promote resource mobilization and sustainable implementation. The target audience of the publication are national policy makers and designated costing coordinators for national action plans on AMR.

In 2019 an estimated 7.2 million people, 19% of all those with HIV, were undiagnosed. Men in high HIV burden settings and men from key populations are consistently less likely to  know their HIV status than women. WHO recommends a  strategic mix of differentiated HIV testing services (HTS) approaches to reach men and link them to appropriate prevention and treatment services. This policy brief highlights WHO-recommended HTS approaches that programmes can introduce or scale up now to optimize  the uptake of HTS among men. The brief also summarizes a package of post-test services for men. HTS can link men to these services as appropriate for their test results.