Publications

Member states recognized the need for all countries to have unhindered, timely access to quality, safe, efficacious and affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines, and essential health technologies despite challenges faced during COVID-19. Progress has been made in the areas of medicine pricing policies, transparency in decision-making processes, building resilient supply chains, and strengthening of National Medicines Regulatory Authorities (NMRA)s through South-East Asia Regulatory Network (SEARN).

Achieving the global target to eliminate HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM) faces additional challenges from the lack of effective and scaled intervention to address a part of the population who use drugs in sexual settings (colloquially known as chemsex). In this report, is intended to deliver a practical toolkit for community-based organisations (CBOs) who work to improve health outcomes for MSM, particularly in Asian countries. This manual provides the contextual information on chemsex practices among MSM in Asia and offers information and interventions to respond to the situation appropriately.

The Strategic Plan 2018-2021 set out an ambitious agenda: to transform UNDP into a more nimble, innovative thought leader, more effective and efficient at delivering results, a trusted  partner for countries in reaching the SDGs. The Strategic Plan 2022-2025 continues in this direction, building on the progress of the last four years. It draws on assessments, evaluations and audits, and on the lessons of experience, including from COVID-19 response.

This ‘In Focus: 2021’ summary outlines the strategic direction and progress in strengthening country health information systems, making data available as a global public good, delivering a measurable impact and using data to drive public health policy.

The COVID-19 has forced the Philippines to undergo several community quarantine restrictions to limit the spread of the new virus, hence limiting throughout the country. The limit in social mobility created a variety of barriers for the access of the community to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. Understanding the magnitude of the COVID-19 impact on the Philippine HIV epidemic will be pivotal in mitigating its effects, strengthening current good practices, and diving into innovations in strategies.

The Philippines has been using HIV estimates to aid programmatic response since 2007. Results of the modelling and estimation have been used to determine the state and trend of the Philippines HIV epidemic, to set targets for the Health Sector Plan for HIV, forecast ARV stock requirements, and measure the accomplishment in the national HIV care cascade, among others.

On the occasion of the 2021 International Youth Day, APCOM is delighted to launch its report Pulse Up! Young MSM Internet Sex Survey, covering three countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Supported by ViiV Healthcare, the report aims to bring attention to the absence of data on young men who have sex with men (MSM) between 15-24 in the region as a major setback in the HIV response.

The Thematic Segment of the 49th UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) meeting will be held on the 10th of December 2021 and will focus on “What do the regional and country-level data tell us, are we listening, and how can we better leverage that data and related technology to meet our 2025 and 2030 goals?”. In the preparation for the Thematic Segment, UNAIDS issued a call for submission of examples of best practices and country case studies to inform the development of the background note to the thematic segment as well as the discussions during the day.

The number of women and girls in prison, estimated to be more than 740,000, is increasing: between 2010 and 2020 there was a 17 per cent increase globally. Punitive drug policies are known to be a key driver of rising prison populations and to have a particular and disproportionate impact on women. Drawing on the report, Sentencing of women convicted of drug-related offences, as well as findings from an expert meeting held in London in February 2020, and the recent briefing, Punitive Drug Laws: 10 years undermining the Bangkok Rules, this model for reform details how policy makers and criminal justice practitioners can respond effectively and positively to reduce the unnecessary imprisonment of women for drug‐related offences in line with international standards.

Annual Report 2020, ‘Delivering in a pandemic’, provides a snapshot of our results achieved across 22 Country Offices and our sub-regional office in the Pacific. These results are illustrated through stories from the ground that provide an in-depth perspective of the impact of our work on the lives of people, with a focus on the most vulnerable women and girls.