Using Data to Guide HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care in East Asia and the Pacific

Although overall adult HIV prevalence in Asia is low - 0.4 per cent compared to 7.4 per cent in Africa - national prevalence varies widely. Within countries of the region, there are disturbingly high prevalence rates among some sub-populations and within various geographic areas. These locations and sub-populations are where concentrated epidemics build up, with substantially higher HIV prevalence than national prevalence levels can adequately capture.

A marked, sudden increase of HIV prevalence has occurred among sub-populations in a number of countries, and those experiencing a generalized epidemic bring lessons about the importance of proactive, early actions. Often countries have acted too late when the prevalence among sub-populations has begun to spread through what is known as "bridge populations" or people closely associated with these sub-groups. These bridge populations include clients of sex workers, their wives and girlfriends as well as sex partners of injecting drug users and men who have sex with men.