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Presentation on The Shifting Winds: What Future for Sustainable Treatment? at Regional Consultation and Planning Workshop “Use of TRIPS Flexibilities to Access Affordable ARVs in Asia” Bangkok 29-31 May 2012.

Presentation on The TRIPS Plus Enforcement Landscape at Regional Consultation and Planning Workshop “Use of TRIPS Flexibilities to Access Affordable ARVs in Asia” Bangkok 29-31 May 2012

The 2011 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS was adopted by the UN General Assembly at a High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York on 10 June. After 30 years of the epidemic, the silence was finally broken with the inclusion of men who have sex with men (MSM) as one of the key affected populations (along with people who use drugs and sex workers). This issue looks at what the 2011 Political Declaration addresses specifically for MSM and the impact on their lives in Asia and the Pacific region. However, most statements are also applicable to transgender people who were purposefully removed from the list of key affected populations (KAPs). It highlights the need for more advocacy around their recognition as a separate population from MSM.

This review examines existing literature on trans people’s human rights and HIV vulnerability across the Asia-Pacific region. For present purposes Asia-Pacific includes all those nations and territories on the continent of Asia (from the Mediterranean to the Pacific) and in Australasia and Oceania. The focus in this report is therefore mainly (though not exclusively) on lower income and middle income countries of the region. This is not to suggest that trans people in more affluent countries do not experience challenges. On the contrary, they often find themselves excluded from economic opportunities enjoyed by others and end up facing many of the same challenges of survival as do trans people in less developed economies.

This report summarises the findings of a review commissioned by India HIV/AIDS Alliance of experiences and lessons from integrating HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in programmes for key populations. The report outlines definitions and benefits of HIV/SRHR integration for key populations and presents some general lessons learned about good practice. It then addresses each of the selected key populations – describing issues to consider within integrated HIV/SRHR support, sharing key strategies and providing examples of integration in action.

In this report, we present the results of the People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Stigma Index Survey conducted in Lao P.D.R. from October 2011-February 2012. Through these results, we aim to shed light on the HIV-related stigma and discrimination situation in the country, contribute to the exploration of the large biosocial mechanisms that affect stigma and the epidemic, and propose comprehensive interventions to battle HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

The Global AIDS Response Progress Report (GARPR) 2012 of Singapore covers the period of January 2010-December 2011 and submitted on 3 May 2012. Singapore’s HIV epidemic is classified as a low-level epidemic.

Sri Lanka: National AIDS Spending Assessment 2009-2010 examines the flow of resources intended to combat HIV/AIDS. It tracks the allocation of funds, from their origin down to the end point of service delivery, among the different institutions dedicated in the fight against the disease using the bottom-up and top-down approach. Financial resources are tracked by financing source whether it is public, private or international, and among the different providers. Total HIV/AIDS expenditure in Sri Lanka during 2010 is estimated at Rs.534 million (USD 4.7 million), which is equivalent to 0.010% of GDP. Central government was the largest financing source, contributing 48% followed by donor agencies at 40% and International non-profit institutions contributing 3%.

Recent developments suggest that substantial clinical and programmatic advantages can come from adopting a single, universal regimen both to treat HIV-infected pregnant women and to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This streamlining should maximize PMTCT programme performance through better alignment and linkages with antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes at every level of service delivery. One of WHO’s two currently recommended PMTCT antiretroviral (ARV) programme options, Option B, takes this unified approach. Now a new, third option (Option B+) proposes further evolution—not only providing the same triple ARV drugs to all HIV-infected pregnant women beginning in the antenatal clinic setting but also continuing this therapy for all of these women for life. This programmatic update is meant to provide a current perspective for countries on the important changes and new considerations arising since publication of WHO’s PMTCT ARV guidelines, 2010 version, especially as a number of countries are now preparing to adopt Option B+. WHO has begun a comprehensive revision of all ARV guidelines, including guidance on ARVs for pregnant women, planned for release in early 2013.

This Guidance Note has been developed to provide the UNAIDS Cosponsors and Secretariat with a coordinated human-rights-based approach to promoting universal access2 to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the context of adult sex work. In a world where the overwhelming majority of HIV infections are sexually transmitted, sex workers and their clients are at heightened risk of HIV, in large measure as a result of a larger number of sex partners. Vulnerability to HIV as a result of sex work extends to women, men, and transgender people.