Publications

The first case of AIDS was identified in Indonesia in 1987 in a foreign male tourist. During the decade thereafter, the epidemic appeared to grow slowly, spreading primarily among men and almost exclusively through sexual transmission. In the mid-1990s, however, injecting drug use, which historically had been very limited in Indonesia, began to increase dramatically. Community workers who were aware of the phenomenon expressed concern about the threat of HIV in the growing population of injecting drug users (IDUs).

The HIV epidemic in the South-East Asia Region is a source of growing concern. An estimated 7.2 million people were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2006. Of these, 1.9 million were younger than 25 years of age, including 120,000 children. South-East Asia bears the second highest number of HIV-infected persons among all WHO Regions, behind sub-Saharan Africa. The meeting brought together senior representatives from the Ministry of Health, programme managers from national AIDS programmes as well as from reproductive health and adolescent health programmes, representatives from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and development partners to exchange information and provide a platform for technical and strategic discussions on scaling-up HIV prevention, care and treatment interventions.

Despite evidence establishing male-to-male sex as one of the driving forces of HIV transmission in the Asia and Pacific region, few strategic interventions address male-to-male and transgender sexualities and related HIV vulnerabilities. In recognition of the need for building and strengthening interventions addressing HIV related vulnerabilities of males who have sex with males (MSM) in the Region; the Male Sexual Health and HIV in Asia and the Pacific - International Consultation was organised in New Delhi, India from September 23-26, 2006, with the tagline “Risks and Responsibilities.” This regional consultation provided a space for dialogue, learning, networking, and skills building, towards enabling the expansion, strengthening and scaling up of strategies addressing sexual health and related HIV vulnerabilities in relation to males who have sex with males and transgender people. In addition, the consultation provided an opportunity to inform and develop strategic advocacy initiatives and deliberate on key policies related to these issues.

The main objective of this project is to strengthen the national policy and programmes on HIV/AIDS in Malaysia by assessing the impact of HIV/AIDS on people infected by the disease to provide an information base on PLHIV (People Living with HIV) and the families/communities affected.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer world-wide and is the most common cancer among women in developing countries. A comprehensive approach to cervical cancer screening and the recent advent of vaccines for oncogenic genotypes of HPV makes it the most preventable and treatable of all cancers. This meeting, HPV Vaccines, New Tools in the Prevention of Cervical Cancer and other HPV Disease in Asia and the Pacifi c, was a satellite meeting of the 3rd Asia Pacifi c Organisation for Cancer Prevention (APOCP) and International Union Against Cancer (UICC) Symposium, Empowering Cancer Prevention in the Asian Pacifi c. The satellite meeting brought together leading specialists in immunization, cancer prevention, and other disciplines who are essential to building consensus on programming for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancers.

In 2006 the Ministry of Health and provincial Health Offices in Tanah Papua, in collaboration with the National/Local AIDS Commission, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), with support from the World Bank and USAID – FHI/ASA has completed Integrated Bio-Behavioral Surveillance (IBBS 2006) in Tanah Papua (the Land of Papua) which sampled ten districts. IBBS 2006 is a population-based survey, and it was conducted between September-October 2006. The IBBS 2006 results showed that HIV prevalence among Tanah Papua population was 2.4 percent among population age group 15-49 years old which was higher compared to other parts of the country. The survey also showed that it was already widespread all over Tanah Papua.

This one year project (September 2004 - August 2005) was designed  to understand the sexual behavior of the general male population (aged 18-49 years) in Bangladesh and to compare the response rates to sensitive questions on sexual behavior.

The current survey was designed to collect information on a large number of indicators required for monitoring the goals and targets of the Millenium Declaration, The World Fit for Children Declaration and Plan of Action, and the goals of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS. The survey will not only serve as an up-to-date source of information on the current situation of infants, children and women in Mongolia but also provide valuable feed-back on the impact of the Mongolian National Plan of Action for Children. The results of the survey will serve as the key source of data when preparing the national report from the Government of Mongolia, for the United Nations 'A World Fit for Children Commemorative Session' in 2007 where national, regional and global progress reporting will be done.

Most adults who die of AIDS have older-aged parents who survive them. This, the first quantitative study in Cambodia to look at the impact of the death of a child due to AIDS on their older parents, directly contributes to "improving data collection and analysis on the status, trends and socioeconomic impact of the epidemic," a recommendation specifically set out by Cambodian government in their efforts to meet the United Nations Millennium Goals. Findings from this study can inform policy aimed at mitigating the impact of the epidemic on older persons.

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), in partnership with the National Centre Against Violence (NCAV) based in Mongolia, organised a consultation on 11-12 September, 2006 on 'Culture and Violence Against Women in Asia Pacific' with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. The Consultation aimed to understand and articulate how, despite the fluidity and contestability of cultural norms, oppressive elements of culture, which invariably reflect and reinforce patriarchal power relations, gain dominant representation. The Consultation sought to strategise how a women's human rights agenda can be advanced in this context, providing effective strategies for both the women’s movement in Asia Pacific and for the UNSRVAW for inclusion in her recommendations to States and other actors.