Report titled HIV in Asia and the Pacific Getting to Zero from UNAIDS on HIV AIDS released

A report titled HIV in Asia and the Pacific: Getting to Zero from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was released in August 2011. According to the report, cash crunch came in the way of sufficient fund being released for tackling AIDS epidemic in Asia and the Pacific.

Launched at the 2011 International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), the report found that more people than ever before have access to HIV services across the region. It mentioned that the region saw a 20 per cent drop in new HIV infections since 2001 and a three-fold increase in access to antiretroviral therapy since 2006. Progress was however threatened by inadequate focus on key populations at higher risk of HIV infection and insufficient funding from domestic and international sources.

However, most countries in the region are a long way from achieving universal access goals for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The majority of people living with HIV in the region are in 11 countries: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam.

The report revealed that the AIDS response in Asia and the Pacific was underfunded. In 2009, an estimated $1.1 billion was spent on AIDS response in 30 countries across the region, approximately one third of the funding needed to achieve universal access goals to HIV services.

Though China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Samoa and Thailand were funding the bulk of their HIV response from domestic resources, many countries in Asia and the Pacific depend heavily on foreign funds, particularly for the provision of antiretroviral therapy. Increased investment of domestic resources, especially in middle-income countries was reported to be critical for the ongoing regional response to HIV.

Funding cutbacks from international donors threatened progress in the regional AIDS response. In 2009, international assistance for the global AIDS response levelled off for the first time in a decade, and in 2010 it further declined.

Investments to protect key populations from HIV remain insufficient. Among countries reporting detailed expenditure data in 2010, only 8 per cent of total AIDS spending in South Asia and 20 per cent in Southeast Asia focused on HIV prevention among key populations at higher risk of HIV infection.

An estimated 4.9 million people were living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific in 2009.