HIV incidence on the rise among women in Asia, UN says

Mon, 28 Jun 2010
DPA

Bangkok - HIV rates are on the rise among Asian women, highlighting the need for new policy priorities, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) warned Monday.

In 2007, women accounted for 35 per cent of all people living with HIV in Asia, up from 18 per cent in 1990.

Asian governments must pay more attention to the needs of women in their national HIV/AIDS policies, said Moni Pizani, regional programme director for the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

"Tackling harmful gender norms that are at the root of women's vulnerability to HIV is crucial to stem the spread of the epidemic,"Pizani told a seminar in Pattaya, 90 kilometres south-east of Bangkok.

A breakdown of HIV incidence by country from 2006 showed women account for 47 per cent of infected people in Cambodia, 37 per cent in India, 21 per cent in Indonesia, 15 per cent in Malaysia, 24 per cent in Nepal, 40 per cent in the Philippines, 37 per cent in Sri Lanka and 35 per cent in Thailand.

"Political leaders must champion the human rights of sex workers, men who have sex with men, people who use illicit drugs - and especially their intimate partners - to effectively prevent new HIV infections," Pizani said.

It is estimated that 10 million Asian women sell sex and at least 75 million Asian men buy sex regularly, according to a 2008 report by the UN Commission on AIDS in Asia. The same report estimated that at least 50 million Asian women are at risk of acquiring HIV from their partners.

"A gender focus is crucial to stem the spread of HIV fuelled by gender inequalities that increasingly place women and girls at risk," UNAIDS Asia Pacific regional gender advisor Jane Wilson said.

Health Workers Warn of Higher HIV Infections

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report form Phnom Penh
27 November 2009

Health agencies say they are worried about a high number of HIV infections among indirect sex workers, drug needle sharers and men who have sex with men.

Infections have risen since the inception of an anti-trafficking law that has driven sex workers out of brothels, where condoms are easily distributed, and into entertainment venues where distribution is more difficult.

Nearly one in every four intravenous drug users is HIV positive, according to government figures. Also, about 5 percent of male prostitutes in Cambodia are estimated to be HIV positive.

Unexpected problems have resulted from the closure of brothels after the passage of the anti-trafficking law in 2008.

“When we go to offer our condoms and sex education services in the entertainment facilities, the owners stop us saying their places do not offer sex services,” said Tim Vora, acting executive director of HIV/AIDS Coordinating Committee.

Less Cambodians infected in HIV tests in 2007

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of Cambodians who tested HIV positive dropped in 2007, even though more people have come in to be tested, local media reported Tuesday.

According to figures from the latest report from the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STDs (NCHADS), the number of people taking an HIV test jumped to nearly 300,000 last year, with five percent of them testing positive, the Mekong Times newspaper said.

In 2006, only about 230,000 people were tested, while seven percent were HIV positive, it added.

NCHADS President Mean Chhivon attributed the reduction in the number of HIV carriers to people being more aware of the disease and to there being a mushrooming of HIV voluntary testing and counseling centers throughout the country, the newspaper said.

In 2006, Cambodia's HIV prevalence rate had decreased to around0.9 percent of the whole population, while it was two percent in 1998, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures.