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It is now widely accepted that HIV/AIDS is a threat to social and economic development with serious implications not only for the health and well-being of individuals but also for productivity, economic development, the social fabric of communities and national security. HIV/AIDS therefore requires the full commitment of all sectors: public, private and civil society. What might an expanded response to HIV/AIDS, that extends beyond the health sector and calls for the mobilization of all societal resources to combat the disease, look like?
A multisectoral approach to HIV/AIDS aims at mobilizing resources – financial and otherwise. Sector-wide approaches provide opportunities for integrated responses to HIV/AIDS, moving away from the traditional vertical approach that addresses HIV/AIDS as a disease specific (biomedical) or a narrowly-defined problem rather than incorporating poverty, development, nutrition, education and other prevalent factors that may help drive the epidemic.
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HIV/AIDS is a significant public health problem in all three countries. In Cambodia HIV prevalence rates have fallen from 2.6% to 1.9% among adults aged 15-491, but remain among the highest in the region – with some 123,000 people living with HIV. In Vietnam, while national prevalence is still low, HIV has been reported in all provinces and is relatively high, over 10%, among sex workers and injecting drug users – two key high risk groups. In Laos prevalence is still very low, and is largely confined to the two larger cities (Vientiane and Savannakhet) – yet STD rates among service women are very high in a number of provinces, and Laos’ relatively porous borders with Thailand and Cambodia suggest significant vulnerability.
The goal of the Project was to reduce HIV transmission among mobile groups of people, migrants, and source and host communities in the three countries in order to decrease the impact of the HIV epidemic in the region.
Resource | Tools,
This toolkit has been written for anyone that wants to know more about GIPA – the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS. It has been prepared by consultants working for the Asia-Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+), with support from the Asia-Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organisations (APCASO) and the Seven Sisters Coalition. With this toolkit, this consortium aims to convince you that GIPA is both important and possible and to provide practical steps to strengthen the involvement of people living with HIV in the creation and implementation of AIDS policy and programs. GIPA is not an end in itself; it is a tool to enable us to achieve our ultimate goals: improving the quality of life of all people living with HIV in this region and preventing further HIV infections.
The processes and workshop exercises outlined in this toolkit are written for PLWHA groups and networks and community-based organisations in Asia-Pacific. It can be easily adapted for use by governmental departments and international organisations, too. This is a resource document.
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People who buy and sell sex pose one of the high-risk behaviours for HIV exposure in Asia. It is therefore essential for HIV prevention interventions to take into account the nature of the Asian sex industry. The purpose of this booklet is twofold:
1. to summarize what researchers have learned about the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS within Asian commercial sex networks; and,
2. to discuss the programmatic implications of those findings.
This publication follows up by highlighting the points that relate specifically to the spread of HIV through commercial sex. It also describes how those points should inform HIV prevention strategies.
Resource | Publications,
Many countries across the region have developed plans to address HIV/AIDS among young people. Prevention education and provision of youth-friendly health services are already stipulated in national strategies. However, programmes for institutionalized capacity building and sectoral policies in health, education, welfare, labour and social justice that are all vital to implementing and supporting this strategy remain few and far between.
Interventions focused on the most highly vulnerable young people are often said to be the key to slowing or halting the epidemic. However, capacity is clearly inadequate in many countries, and includes an insufficient availability of human and financial resources, as well as a lack of systematic tracking for behavioural trends and risks. Furthermore, social attitudes towards those most at risk, - who are usually already marginalized and discriminated against because of their behaviours, - remain obstacles which hamper effective preventive measures.
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Although anti-retroviral treatment (ART) is not traditionally considered a central concern in the harm reduction agenda, from a global public health perspective, Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) believes that ART remains a very important service within a comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment and care model. As such, AHRN’s analysis and experience in national, regional or international initiatives which have operational goals determined and evaluated through the provision of anti-retroviral (ARV) medications to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), demonstrates that we should applaud such treatment services on the principle that all people, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation, should receive quality treatment and health care.
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The Pacific Regional Strategy on HIV/AIDS (2004-2008) builds on a vision for the Pacific, where the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS is halted and reversed; where leaders are committed to leading the fight against HIV/AIDS; where people living with and affected by HIV are respected, cared for and have affordable access to treatment; and where all partners commit themselves to these collective aims with the spirit of compassion inherent in Pacific cultural and religious values. The goal of the strategy is to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS, while embracing people infected and affected by the virus.
The strategy provides a framework for national and regionally funded activities throughout the Pacific. It has three main purposes: to increase the capacity of the Pacific Island countries and territories to provide an effective and sustainable response to HIV/AIDS; to strengthen coordination, and mobilize resources and expertise; and to assist countries to achieve and report on their national and international targets for HIV/AIDS.
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In most countries, TB patients are increasingly being detected but the majority of HIV cases are not. The current knowledge of the interaction between the epidemics in the Region is restricted to those who access health services and are diagnosed with either disease.
In order to address Region-specific issues in this area reflecting the current epidemiological situation and the status and capacity for delivering the necessary services in the countries, there has been a call from Member Countries in the Region to conduct a technical forum and to outline regional strategic directions for HIV surveillance among TB patients. WHO/SEARO has responded to this need by organizing an informal consultation of selected programme managers and experts, including those from countries in the Region that are facing a generalized or concentrated HIV epidemic.
The Pacific Regional Strategy on HIV/AIDS (2004-2008): Pacific Regional Strategy Implementation Plan
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The Pacific Regional Strategy on HIV/AIDS (2004-2008) is designed to support national efforts to prevent and control HIV/AIDS and to strengthen work at the regional level through improved coordination, collaboration and partnership between regional organizations and national programmes.
The goal of the strategy is a broad regional goal to which all HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities in the region contribute. It was endorsed by regional leaders at the 35th Pacific Islands Forum meeting held in Apia, Samoa, on 8 August 2004. In endorsing the five-year regional strategy, the Pacific leaders recognized the urgent need to effectively address HIV/AIDS in the region, and therefore tasked the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) with developing a detailed implementation plan for the Strategy.