Asia can afford universal access for AIDS prevention and treatment

Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). This report is the work of independent consultants and does not necessarily represent the views of the collaborating partners. We would like to thank all the people we interviewed across the region, and in Geneva, for their gracious acceptance of our intrusion; their wisdom; and their keen interest in what we were doing. We learned much from them. We also appreciate the support we have received from the members of the Reference Group, and their guidance. It is important also to acknowledge the insight and hard work put into the design of the assignment, the detailed thinking that went into the terms of reference, and the support and encouragement we received along the way, from Robyn Biti and her colleagues in AusAID, and Jackie Mundy and her colleagues in the Health Resource Facility. We especially appreciate the detailed, thoughtful and knowledgeable comments on our draft report we received from members of the Reference Group and their colleagues at country level. This assignment built on, and we trust has taken forward, the work of UNAIDS in the region, first with the Report of the Commission of AIDS in Asia, and more recently with their Universal Access Stocktaking Report, and their Getting to Zero in Asia and the Pacific publication at the end of 2011. Much of the data and analysis comes from this work; our task was to try to find a useful new perspective on it. We also need to recognise the courage and fortitude of the people of Asia, faced with the threat of HIV and AIDS. As one HIV positive ex-drug user put it to me: 'We didn't give up when we first realised what HIV was; we didn't give up when there was no treatment; we didn't give up when drugs were expensive, or difficult to access. Why should we give up?' It is in the light of this courage and fortitude that we address the partners for who this report is written: do not give up.

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'Getting to zero' in Asia and the Pacific through more strategic use of antiretrovirals for HIV prevention

Cassell

Holtz

Wolfe

et al. 2014

Sex. Health

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Encouraged by experimental trials demonstrating the efficacy of antiretrovirals (ARVs) in preventing HIV infection, countries across the Asia-Pacific region have committed to the achievement of ambitious targets tantamount to ending AIDS. The available data suggest that some countries still can make progress through targeted condom promotion and the expansion of harm-reduction interventions, but that none may realise its vision of 'zero new HIV infections' without more strategic use of ARVs as part of a combination of HIV prevention efforts targeting key populations. Low rates of HIV testing among men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers and other key populations evidence low treatment coverage where treatment could have the greatest impact on curbing local epidemics. Studies have demonstrated the promise of adding ARV treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis to the existing HIV prevention toolkit, but achieving population-level impact will require service-delivery approaches that overcome traditional prevention, care and treatment program distinctions. Priorities include: (1) innovative strategies to reach, test, treat and retain in services the individuals most likely to acquire or transmit HIV; (2) task shifting and enhanced partnerships between the public sector and civil society; (3) improved 'cascade' data systems to assess and promote service uptake and retention; and (4) policy and financing reform to enhance HIV testing and treatment access among key populations.

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Asia can afford universal access for AIDS prevention and treatment

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

Assessing the effects of HIV/AIDS and TB disease control programmes on health systems in low- and middle-income countries of Southeast Asia: a semi-systematic review of the literature

Assessing the effects of HIV/AIDS and TB disease control programmes on health systems in low- and middle-income countries of Southeast Asia: a semi-systematic review of the literature

HIV in Asia--Transforming the agenda for 2012 and beyond

'Getting to zero' in Asia and the Pacific through more strategic use of antiretrovirals for HIV prevention

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