A Long Walk: Challenges to Women's Access to HIV Services in Asia

In Asia, HIV prevalence among women and girls is increasing; 40% of HIV-positive young people in south and south-east Asia are women and girls. According to UNESCO, over one million youth between the ages of 15 to 24 in south Asia are infected with HIV, and more than half (62%) are young women. In Cambodia, half of all new infections occur in married women and another one third occurs via vertical transmission from mother to child; since 2006 more women than men in Cambodia are reported to have AIDS. Many women diagnosed as HIV-positive are mothers and it is important to keep them healthy in order to have optimal health and well being outcomes for themselves and their children.

This research study aims to examine the challenges that these increasing numbers of HIV positive
women and children face in getting access to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and HIV services in Asia. The study was designed and conducted by women living with HIV in six Asian countries. It was carried out throughout 2008, under the direction of the women’s working group of the Asia Pacific Network of people living with HIV (APN+).