Publications

This report presents preliminary findings of the 2010 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) which was conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of the Ministry of Planning and the Directorate General for Health of the Ministry of Health of Cambodia. The 2010 CDHS, the third of its kind, follows the surveys that were successfully conducted in 2000 (the 2000 CDHS) and in 2005 (the 2005 CDHS). The 2010 CDHS provides data to monitor the population and health situation in Cambodia. Specifically, the 2010 CDHS collected information on a broad range of demographic, health, and social issues such as household characteristics, utilization of health services, maternal and child health, breastfeeding practices, early childhood mortality, maternal mortality, nutritional status of women and young children, fertility levels, marriage, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, sexual activity, and awareness and behavior regarding AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

This is the second consolidated report on the achievements of the Regional Programme for East Asia and the Pacific. The focus remains squarely on articulating the contribution to development results, rather than simply providing an account of activities that have been carried out over the preceding 12 months. East and South-East Asia is one of the most rapidly developing parts of the world. Global experience has shown us that positive and welcome developments, such as increased mobility of goods, services and money as well as the availability of information and communication technologies, simultaneously provide opportunities for transnational organized crime to expand. An uneven distribution of economic opportunities also produces significant domestic and international migration, which often disrupts communities and isolates vulnerable individuals. Rapid urbanization can also generate zones of anonymity and insecurity where criminality emerges and the law is challenged. This in turn adds impetus to both the demand for and supply of illicit drugs, for forced labour, for sex workers, for counterfeit products and for limited or protected natural resources (like timber, fish and wildlife). For this reason, in addition to accounting for what we have achieved in 2010, we also attempt to outline the new and emerging threats and how we can best respond to them.

The Hong Kong STD/AIDS update is a composite report on HIV/AIDS reporting and STI caseload statistics published 3 monthly. The current issue has the updated information up to March 2011.

This report describes the achievement of program implementation on HIV/AIDS and STI prevention, care, support and treatment during the year 2010. The report is intended to aggregate data and information collected from all OI/ART, VCCT, Family Health Clinics, HBC, and PMTCT sites from the whole country to be represented as the National Comprehensive Report for the health sector response to HIV/AIDS and STI in Cambodia. The following sections reported the main three program areas implemented for this year that are including: A) General Report related to Programme management and implementation; B) Results from health service deliveries; C) Financial Report for descript the financial disbursements against the yearly budget plan; D) Procurement of OI/ARV Drugs, E) Challenges etc.

The National Health Sector Strategic Plan 2011-2030 (NHSSP) provides the Ministry of Health with a framework for understanding its position and moving forward with a sense of direction, purpose and guidance of activities and decisions required by key actors in the health sector for the next twenty years.

In 2005, the predecessor of this Committee, Scientific Committee on AIDS, published its set of recommended principles of antiretroviral therapy to provide general guidance for the use of antiretrovirals in Hong Kong. The document stated nine major principles of antiretroviral use. Since then, progress has been made in the realm of HIV management. There have also been corresponding changes in local practice. This Committee therefore undertook to re-examine the document with a view to updates where appropriate. As before, the effort focussed on major principles rather than details of antiretroviral use.

This Regional Issues Brief has been written to provide an overview of an area of enquiry that the Global Commission on HIV and the Law is examining – issues of laws pertaining to intellectual property rights and access to medicines. It has been undertaken through a literature review of laws and documentation of their enforcement in the context of Asia and the Pacific. It serves as an information resource and complements the report of the Regional Dialogue for Asia and the Pacific that was held under the auspices of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law in Bangkok on 16 and 17 February 2011. Significant advances in treatment access in the Asia Pacific region have resulted from the work of activists who have campaigned to ensure that intellectual property laws do not impose unreasonable constraints on access to HIV medicines. Activists have achieved a number of successes through campaigning and litigation in Thailand and India. The focus of campaigning has been on challenging overbroad patents and trade agreements that block production and importation of affordable generic versions of HIV medicines. The legal response to access to medicines in the region continues to be influenced by heated policy debates between consumer activists and the mainstream pharmaceutical industry.

The HIV epidemic in Vietnam is concentrated primarily in injecting drug users (IDUs). To prevent HIV-1 super-infection and to develop effective HIV prevention programs, data are needed to understand the characteristics of high risk HIV-positive IDUs. In 2003, we conducted a community-based cross-sectional study among predominately male, out-of-treatment IDUs, aged 18–45, in Bac Ninh Province, Vietnam. Among 299 male participants, 42.8% were HIV-positive and among those, 96.9% did not know their status prior to the study. Thirty-two percent were HIV-positive and had high HIV behavioral risk (having unprotected sex or having shared injecting equipment in the past 6 months). Injecting for ≥ 3 years, younger age, and pooling money to buy drugs were independently associated with being at high risk for transmitting HIV. IDUs who purchased >1 syringe at a time were less likely to have high HIV behavioral risk. Structural interventions that increase syringe accessibility may be effective in reducing HIV risk behavior among HIV-positive IDUs. Study limitations are noted in the text.

Continuing comprehensive assessment of population health gap is essential for effective health planning. This paper assessed changes in the magnitude and pattern of disease burden in Thailand between 1999 and 2004. It further drew lessons learned from applying the global burden of disease (GBD) methods to the Thai context for other developing country settings. The study highlights unique pattern of disease burden in Thailand whereby epidemiological transition have occurred as non-communicable diseases were on the rise but burden from HIV/AIDS resulting from the epidemic in the 1990s remains high and injuries show negligent change. Lessons point that assessing DALY over time critically requires continuing improvement in data sources particularly on cause of death statistics, institutional capacity and long term commitments.

While anti-trafficking legislation has been improved and Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) facilities established in Thailand to provide support to male victims of trafficking, including fishermen, the current framework requires men who have been trafficked to stay in shelters and does not permit them to work. The condition prohibiting work serves as a disincentive for male victims of trafficking to wilfully be identified as such. The objective of this report is to provide a better understanding of the recruitment, living and working conditions of fishermen and the extent of exploitation and abuse in the Thai fishing sector. The report reviews the legislative and regulatory framework governing the fishing sector and the recruitment of fishermen and its implementation, highlighting certain gaps which enable traffickers to operate in the sector and lead to abusive labour conditions. The report also examines protection and support services accessible by victims of trafficking.