Gay sex, drug use fuel AIDS rise in Asia

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