HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS: An Asia-Pacific time bomb

HIV/AIDS is no longer a simple medical issue, but is one of the greatest development challenges. The epidemic is rapidly destabilizing societies in profound ways.

While the HIV/AIDS epidemic was late in coming to Asia-Pacific, there is growing concern over the marked increases registered in many countries in the region. Today, the fastest growing epidemics in the world are in South-East and South Asia.

The relatively low HIV prevalence rates in Asia-Pacific are deceptive, as low rates in such a populous region still translate into massive numbers of infections. Sixty per cent of the world’s population is in Asia-Pacific, with China and India accounting for over 2.2 billion of the region’s 3.8 billion people.

If urgent attention is not taken to address HIV/AIDS, the potential consequence in the Asia-Pacific region could dwarf the human catastrophe that Africa is presently experiencing. HIV/AIDS is thus a central focus of the work of the Health and Development Section

Tearing the socio-economic fabric of society

The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on development is clear. HIV spreads fastest and farthest in conditions of poverty, powerlessness, and lack of information – conditions in which the majority of people in Asia-Pacific live. As parents and workers succumb to AIDS-related illnesses, the structures and divisions of labour within households, families and workplaces are severely disrupted, with women bearing an especially heavy burden.

AIDS also causes tremendous economic disruption as it kills young people in their most productive years. These effects further reduce income levels, weaken economies, compromise health and education systems, and undermine the fabric of societies.

Hitting marginalized groups the hardest

HIV/AIDS is spreading beyond the especially vulnerable sub-populations, such as sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men, where the epidemic concentrated during the initial stages.

Since the main modes of HIV transmission in Asia-Pacific are through heterosexual sex and injecting drug use, young people are at the centre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Over 50 per cent of all new infections occur among young people below 24 years of age.

In addition, the types of mobility that promotes HIV transmission – labour migration, the trafficking of women and children, and displacement of refugees – are also found throughout Asia-Pacific.