More than 3.5 million people are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS in East Asia and Pacific, and the number is rising. Since the end of the 1980s, HIV/AIDS has appeared and spread in sites and among population groups scattered around the region. HIV/AIDS has thrived on poverty and uneven development.

But there is hope. Some of the greatest successes in the global response to HIV/AIDS are in this region. Thailand and Cambodia have managed to curb spiralling new HIV infections, something only one other developing country has achieved. Sustainable, low-cost initiatives are emerging around the region. New partnerships and landmark national policy changes catalysed by the response to HIV/AIDS have benefits that reach far beyond.

UNICEF and its partners are working to ensure that every new lesson learned is quickly shared and put into action, to help millions of people in the region and beyond, and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the Region

Stretching from Polynesia to Mongolia, DPR Korea to East Timor, the East Asia and Pacific region presents a great diversity of environments for HIV/AIDS. Even within the same country, migration, tradition and rapid economic development mean people are living lives that are worlds apart.

The locus of HIV/AIDS in East Asia and the Pacific has been the Mekong subregion. In Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, more than one in every hundred people are living with the disease. Neighbouring Lao PDR, Viet Nam and China, are at increasing risk because of the massive scale of migration across their shared borders and a host of localized factors like poverty, low education, high rates of sexually transmitted infections and drug use.

More recently, exponentially rising HIV infections in Port Moresby have sounded the alarm bells in Papua New Guinea, and the country has become a priority for assistance under the Mekong Partnership and Beyond strategic framework.

The Region Responds

Most countries in the region have responded strongly to the epidemic. Thailand has developed one of the most comprehensive sentinel and behavioural surveillance systems in the world.

Across the region, prevention and protection programs are reaching the most vulnerable young people. HIV/AIDS-related services and STI treatment are becoming more accessible and more inclusive. More countries are adopting an holistic "continuum of care" approach for people with HIV/AIDS and their families, integrating formal services with community-level care and support. People with HIV are playing a valuable role in educating their communities.

Countries are becoming increasingly open and willing to share experiences, and regional initiatives like the Mekong Partnership and Beyond are encouraging exchange between countries. Lifeskills training is improving across the region and is being integrated into school curricula, while programs for out-of-school youth are extending the reach of such training.

The individual country reports contain more detailed information on the HIV/AIDS epidemics in priority countries in East Asia and the Pacific.