Publications

Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and usually curable disease. Yet in 2022, TB was the world’s second leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, after coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and caused almost twice as many deaths as HIV/AIDS. More than 10 million people continue to fall ill with TB every year. Urgent action is required to end the global TB epidemic by 2030, a goal that has been adopted by all Member States of the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The assessment serves to document and review the situation in relation to the current human rights and gender related programmatic responses being implemented across the country, aimed at reducing barriers to services for key populations. For the purpose of this assessment the main key populations in Bangladesh include female sex workers (FSW), people who use drugs and populations with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual characteristics and expression (SOGIESC) such as men who have sex with men (MSM), male sex workers (MSW) and Transgender people/Hijra/Third Gender (TG).

The Bangladesh government is committed to limit the prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among key populations (KPs) at a low level. The current mapping, size estimation, and behavioral survey was conducted among the KP groups, namely, female sex workers (FSW), people who inject drugs (PWID), and men who have sex with men(MSM/MSW). Regular updates of the estimated KP size and their mapping are important for planning, priority setting, designing effective interventions, resource allocation, and monitoring. The objectives of this study were to: a) estimate the size and map the sites of KP groups in selected districts and extrapolate the data to estimate the size in remaining districts; b) assess the risk behaviors of KP groups, including the utilization of services; and c) examine violence against the KPs, the situation of KPs during the COVID-19 pandemic period, and the knowledge of KPs on HIV and their health seeking behaviors.

Cambodia has achieved remarkable success in reducing annual new HIV infections, from an estimated 15,000 in 1996 to 1,400 in 2022. However, rising HIV incidence among young people aged 15-24, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women (TG), and people engaged in sexualized drug use (chemsex) is counteracting reductions in new infections.  

This study was conducted from January to March 2023 with funding support through the Technical Support Mechanism of UNAIDS and was made possible through consultation and collaboration with national and international partners, as well as communities of key populations and people living with HIV.

Marked inequalities and diverse epidemic trends affect progress in the HIV response in Asia and the Pacific. The HIV epidemic in the region disproportionately affects people from key populations, especially young people (15–24 years), and their sexual partners. Young people accounted for around a quarter of new HIV infections in the region in 2022. In Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand, nearly half of new HIV infections occurred among young people. Median HIV prevalence among people from key populations remains much higher than among the general population. Since 2010, estimated numbers of new HIV infections among gay men and other men who have sex with men increased by six times in the Philippines, tripled in Cambodia and almost doubled in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The increasing use of stimulants and synthetic opioids exacerbates the risks of HIV transmission among people who use drugs.

LET COMMUNITIES LEAD - WORLD AIDS DAY 2023 The world can end AIDS, with communities leading the way. Organisations of communities living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV are the frontline of progress in the HIV response. Communities connect people with person-centred public health services, build trust, innovate, monitor implementation of policies and services, and hold providers accountable. But communities are being held back in their leadership. Funding shortages, policy and regulatory hurdles, capacity constraints, and crackdowns on civil society and on the human rights of marginalised communities, are obstructing the progress of HIV prevention and treatment services. If these obstacles are removed, community-led organisations can add even greater impetus to the global HIV response, advancing progress towards the end of AIDS. 2023 World AIDS Day — Let Communities Lead | UNAIDS  

Tuberculosis (TB) remains among the world’s top infectious killers. Each day, around 4000 people lose their lives to TB and around 30,000 people fall ill with this disease. This preventable and curable disease is deeply rooted in communities “left behind” - where poverty is pervasive and human rights and dignity are limited. The devastating social and economic impact on people affected and their families is profound. This Status Update provides an overview of progress towards global TB targets set in the political declaration of the first UN High-Level Meeting on TB, spanning the period 2018- 2022. It is based primarily on data compiled by WHO’s Global TB Programme from all Member States in annual rounds of data collection.

Over more than a decade, the world has made considerable progress in reaching women with services to reduce vertical transmission of HIV. Most countries have adopted lifelong ART to “treat all” pregnant women, regardless of their CD4 count, as part of a public health approach and one of the key objectives to achieve the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV. Yet, results of efforts to reduce the number of new paediatric HIV infections have fallen short against the 2020 Start Free target, among others; the goal of ending HIV and AIDS in children remains elusive. This key considerations document expands on the 2020 “last mile” operational guidance, with specific considerations for countries with lower HIV prevalence. It builds on the experiences of countries that have been validated for EMTCT of HIV and syphilis and translates the valuable lessons and promising practices of these countries into an operational framework for national programmes, consisting of 12 strategies and enablers to guide efforts towards Fast-Tracking EMTCT in lower prevalence countries.

The Operational guidance on adaptation and implementation of WHO’s Multisectoral Accountability Framework to end TB (MAF-TB) provides practical advice on key approaches and interventions needed to establish the MAF-TB at the national (and local) levels with concrete country examples, best practices and case studies under each suggested approach and interventions.