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Hong Kong, located in Asia the new burning place of HIV infection, is still having a relatively low prevalence of HIV infection. While sexual transmission is the predominant route of transmission in Hong Kong, an upsurge of infection in injecting drug users is a concern from the experience in other Asian localities. Various public health measures in Hong Kong have kept the HIV prevalence of drug users at low level, as compared with neighbouring cities. This annual surveillance report on HIV/AIDS is an initiative of Special Preventive Programme (SPP), Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health. This report serves to provide information for strategic planning of services and intervention activities for the prevention, care and control of HIV/AIDS. Following a commentary, data collected from the four main components of our surveillance programme (the HIV/AIDS voluntary reporting system, serosurveillance studies, Social Hygiene Service caseload statistics and risk behaviour studies) are presented as tables and graphs.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is currently facing a rapidly expanding HIV epidemic. Although HIV interventions and initiatives are underway, there are questions related to the nature and impact of the epidemic, as well as questions related to the effectiveness of the national response. The primary objectives of the review were to systematically collect and review studies on HIV, AIDS, STIs and STDs conducted in PNG between 2007 and 2008; to assess the quality and reliability of these studies; and to synthesize the research findings under common thematic areas. The secondary objective of the review was to identify relevant recommendations for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and stakeholders.

Sexual and reproductive health of young people has become a major health problem in recent decades. Recent and rapidly increasing Human Immune Defi ciency Virus (HIV) rates show an urgent need for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV prevention interventions in Nepal. This paper attempts to assess knowledge, attitude and behaviour on STIs/HIV/AIDS in the context of young peoples of Nepal.

HIV Surveillance Activities in Nepal: - Nepal’s priority in HIV surveillance is strengthening of the Second Generation Surveillance system.  - Routine case reporting: National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC) receives HIV, AIDS and STI case reports from HIV Testing and Counseling (VCT), ART and PMTCT sites - Regular Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveys (IBBS) among High Risk Groups (Female Sex Workers, Injecting Drug Users, Men having Sex with Men, Clients of Sex Workers, and Migrants) is being conducted by epidemiological regions in every two year to track the changes in the HIV prevalence and associated risk behaviours.

The purpose of this operational tool is to raise awareness of how gender inequalities affect women's access to and experience of HIV/AIDS programmes and services and to offer practical actions on how to address or integrate gender into specific types of HIV/AIDS programmes and services. The target audience for this tool comprises primarily programme managers and health-care providers involved in setting up, implementing or evaluating HIV/AIDS programmes. It includes programme managers and health-care providers in the public sector at the national, district and facility levels, as well as those running private sector programmes, e.g. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

PMTCT in Nepal - Comprehensive PMTCT service started in Nepal from February 2005. - Government provides free ARV drugs and follow‐up testing for the baby free of cost from 18 months. - There are 17 PMTCT sites, of which 16 sites offer Pediatric ART and 5 sites provide CD4 testing onsite.

Cook Islands are located between French Polynesia and Fiji Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. In 2006, the resident population of Cook Islands was estimated at 11,800 persons. The residential population has been decreasing since 1996, and there has been a population shift from the outer islands to the main population centres in Rarotonga and Aitutaki. In 2005 and 2006 the Cook Islands Ministry of Health, with technical assistance from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, conducted second generation surveillance (SGS) surveys of antenatal women and youth. This report summarizes the results of the SGS surveys in the two population groups.

This study used household survey data from Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam to examine the situation of orphans relative to children in poverty regarding access to essential needs and services, focusing on basic material needs and education outcomes. This study made use of summary statistics and multivariate regression analysis to determine whether poverty accounts for the education gap between orphans and non-orphans, or whether other factors also contribute to the lower education outcomes of orphans. A similar analysis was done on children’s possession of basic materials – namely a blanket, a pair of shoes and two sets of clothes - which exemplify the capacity of families to protect and care for children.

Since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration, total development assistance for health (DAH) has more than doubled and has saved the lives of millions of individuals and protected the livelihoods of their families. But most low-income countries are failing to make much progress towards the child and maternal mortality MDG targets, and the financial crisis threatens to increase infant deaths in developing countries by 200,000-400,000. Progress towards all the health MDGs is impeded by insufficient funding, poor use of resources, and fragmented financing flows. 

This toolkit focuses on TIs for FSW populations. It draws upon almost two decades of experience from programmes implemented by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Western Pacific and South-East Asia Regions (WPRO/SEARO). While examples and issues specific to FSWs are highlighted, many of these issues would be common to male sex worker (MSW) interventions, and the approaches can be adapted to meet the needs of MSWs. This toolkit aims to demonstrate how a small number of recommended indicators can provide critical information to guide interventions. These tools can be used at different levels of management to track the progress of a programme and focus efforts on achieving targets. Special attention is paid to how data can be used by on-site managers to help them make periodic decisions.