Call for Action: Fast-Track HIV Responses for Young MSM and Young Transgender People

An estimated total of 717 million young people aged 15 to 24 live in the Asia-Pacific region, comprising 60 per cent of the world's youth. In Asia and Pacific, HIV epidemics are concentrated within the MSM and transgender communities, and younger counterparts of these communities are more vulnerable. 95 percent of all new infections among young people occur among the most at risk adolescent populations. According to UNAIDS Data Hub, in 2013, 610,000 young people (15-24) are living with HIV in Asia-Pacific.

In response to the rising epidemic, UNAIDS 90-90-90 Strategy, specifically discusses the importance of taking specific steps to increase HIV testing among young people, expand treatment options for adolescents, adapt health services to adolescents’ needs, mobilize social support, and empower young people. The game changers introduced for Asia and Pacific in the strategy includes scaling up prevention programmes for men who have sex with men and transgender people, including condoms and PrEP, especially for us – the younger generation.