HIV/AIDS prevalence in Asia and the Pacific, at 0.27 per cent, seems low compared with that of other regions, but it represents more than 6 million people living with HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS prevalence in both Africa, at 5.05 per cent, and Latin America and the Caribbean, at 0.57 per cent, is higher than in Asia and the Pacific, although the total population living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America is less than a third that of the Asian and Pacific region.

Figure 6.1 Asian and Pacific countries/areas with highest proportion of adults 15 years and above living with HIV/AIDS, 2003 and 2005

One in every four adults living with HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific resides in the ASEAN region, and the SAARC region is home to 44 per cent. Close to three in five adults with HIV/AIDS - 3.5 million people - live in low-income countries, while 2.5 million live in middle-income countries.

High-income countries, such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand, not only have the lowest prevalence but also have ensured that at least three fourths of their populations living with HIV have access to antiretroviral treatment. This is in contrast to most low- and middle-income countries in the region, where relatively low proportions of people living with HIV have access to antiretroviral treatment. A notable exception in this regard is Thailand, where 88 per cent of those infected have such access.

Figure 6.2 Access to antiretroviral drugs by population with advanced HIV in Asia and the Pacific, 2004 and 2006

The prevalence of adults living with HIV/AIDS is increasing in many North and Central Asian countries. This subregion is showing the fastest increase in the rates of infection, and almost a quarter of those infected are women. In the Russian Federation, the number of people estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS was 940,000 in 2005, and 22 per cent of these were women.

In Uzbekistan, an estimated 31,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS by 2005, and the number of reported HIV cases has almost tripled since 2003. People living with HIV/AIDS in Central Asia generally have low access to treatment, but in Georgia, 32 per cent of the affected population had access to antiretroviral treatment in 2005, a sign that the country is doing comparatively well.

Figure 6.3 HIV prevalence among people aged 15-49 in Asia and the Pacific, 2003 and 2005

In South Asia, recent surveys indicate that, in 2005, approximately 2.5 million people in India were living with HIV/AIDS. Pakistan and Nepal are also among the countries with the highest numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS, at 84,000 and 74,000, respectively. Access to antiretroviral therapy in this subregion is among the lowest in the world.

In South-East Asia, Thailand had an estimated 560,000 adults living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2005. While the number of new HIV infections continued to drop, women still account for almost 40 per cent of all infections. In Cambodia, the epidemic appears to be stabilizing, but in Viet Nam, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS shows an increasing trend, reaching an estimated 250,000 in 2005. In Indonesia, some 170,000 people were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.

Although in absolute terms the number of adults living with HIV/AIDS in small island developing States is not as large as in other country groupings, in terms of prevalence it is the highest in the whole of the Asian and Pacific region. Of those infected in the Pacific, 57 per cent are women. In Papua New Guinea, about 57,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS and the prevalence rose from 1.6 to 1.8 per cent between 2003 and 2005, an increase of 16 per cent over two years. HIV prevalence is also high in Thailand, at 1.4 per cent, and in Cambodia, at 1.6 per cent, although in the latter case the trend is decreasing.

In a number of other countries, including those in North and Central Asia, the most common way to acquire HIV is through drug use, i.e. by sharing needles or syringes with an infected person. In South and South-East Asia, on the other hand, people most often acquire HIV through unprotected sex. In India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Viet Nam, for example, HIV prevalence among injecting drug users averages only 20 per cent.

Figure 6.4 Proportion of women and men aged 15-24 with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV in selected Asian and Pacific countries, latest year from 2000-2006

As prevalence rises through these modes of transmission, the epidemic is no longer confined to the higher-risk groups and, consequently, more women become infected. In fact, married women can be at high risk, as they acquire the virus from their husbands. In Papua New Guinea, women account for half of all new infections. In Thailand, almost two in five new infections are within this group, while in Cambodia, 46 per cent of those newly infected are women (UNAIDS, 2006).

A condition for halting the epidemic is for people to understand how the virus spreads. Although many young people are aware of HIV/AIDS, their knowledge is not usually profound. According to data collected through surveys, the proportion of men aged 15 to 24 who are sufficiently well informed varies widely across the region: from over 50 per cent in Viet Nam to 36 per cent in India and less than 7 per cent in Uzbekistan. In the case of women of the same age, the number varies significantly, from over 50 per cent in Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam to 5 per cent or less in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.