THE United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) said on Monday that its headquarters in Bangkok had hosted a discussion to find ways to speed up progress toward a region free from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
The three-day Asia-Pacific High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Assessment of Progress Against Commitments in the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS and the Millennium Development Goals marks the first time that officials from health, justice, law enforcement, social development and drug control agencies in the region have gathered at a single forum, and are joined by people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—the virus that causes AIDS—and representatives from populations most affected by it.
Government leaders, senior officials, civil society representatives and people living with HIV from 34 Asia-Pacific countries began the February 6–8 meeting with talks on the removal of legal and policy barriers that hamper access to HIV services.
According to Escap, HIV in Asia is spreading through unsafe drug use, commercial sex work, and sex between men.
It said that the rapid growth of HIV among men who have sex with men across the region was a major source of new infections, and without significant investment and programs, this particular group was projected to account for about half of new HIV infections in Asia by 2020.
But the UN agency pointed out that over the past decade, there had been a 20-percent drop in HIV infection rates and over 1 million people received access to treatment across Asia and the Pacific. Escap said that the incidence of HIV among children 15 years old and younger had decreased because of improved services to prevent parent-to-child transmission.
“The Asia-Pacific region has seen impressive gains in addressing HIV, but the epidemic is still outpacing the response. To move us closer toward the vision of zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths, we must ensure sustainable and high-impact responses by explicitly and meaningfully addressing HIV within the broader inclusive development agenda of the Asia-Pacific region,” Escap Executive Secretary Dr. Noeleen Heyzer said. –Mayvelin U. Caraballo, Reporter, Manila Times
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
