The Status and Trends of
HIV/AIDS/STI epidemics
in Asia and the Pacific
October 4, 2001
Melbourne, Australia
Provisional Report
October 4, 2001
The Status and Trends of
HIV/AIDS/STI Epidemics
in Asia and the Pacific
MAP receives financial support from:
    Th The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Acknowledgements
This report draws upon detailed presentations made by MAP network
members at the Melbourne MAP Symposium, September 30 to
October 2, 2001. These presentations, based on the knowledge and
experiences of the MAP network members, draw extensively upon
country-specific data and reports known to individual network
members. These data and reports have come from national
programmes, NGOs, university researchers, and other agencies
actively involved in addressing the epidemic. While it is impossible for
the MAP report to explicitly name each of these organizations and
sources of information, the MAP network wishes to thank them all for
their hard work and acknowledge their valuable contribution to our
understanding of the epidemic in the region.
In addition, the MAP Network would like to acknowledge:
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
through Family Health International for supporting participants from
the various countries in the region.
The Japanese Foundation for AIDS Prevention (JFAP) for its financial
support for the MAP network?s activities including reproduction of
the Melbourne MAP Symposium report.
The 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
organizers for making all the local arrangements for the venue and
logistics.
Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network
MAP is a collegial network of internationally recognized technical experts seeking to
assess the status and trends of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.  MAP was created in
1996, through the collaboration of the AIDS Control and Prevention (AIDSCAP)
Project of Family Health International, the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for
Health and Human Rights of the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Joint
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
MAP's more than 100 members in 40 countries are epidemiologists, modelers,
economists, and social, behavioural, public health and international development
specialists, recruited through a nomination process and currently guided by an Interim
Global Steering Committee.
MAP workshops and membership meetings are held in conjunction with regional and
international HIV/AIDS conferences.  This enables MAP to function on a small
budget and to distribute results from its analyses promptly to conference participants.
Specific workshops are convened as needed, with expertise drawn from MAP
members and other invited experts.  Regional experts are encouraged and supported
by MAP in the collection, analysis, synthesis and dissemination of regional
information, which is then incorporated into MAP's global reports. AIDS service
organizations and regional networks of people living with HIV/AIDS are invited to
participate in MAP workshops.
MAP works toward building consensus in an atmosphere of collegiality, cultural
sensitivity, and mutual respect for conflicting points of view.  It functions on the basis
of volunteerism and personal and institutional contributions, with limited financial
support from international organizations, including UNAIDS, and thus provides an
independent perspective on issues raised by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The reports represent the views of the individual participants and not the
organizations with which they are affiliated.
MAP reports are available through the following websites:
Family Health International
http://www.fhi.org
FXB Center for Health and Human Rights
 http://www.hri.ca/partners/fxbcenter
UNAIDS
http://www.unaids.org
US Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/ipc
Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network
Chair:
Karen Stanecki
Board Members:
Chris Archibald
Carlos Caceres
Karl-Lorenz Dehne
Rokiah Ismail
Peter Lamptey
Bernhard Schwartlander
Karen Stanecki
Daniel Tarantola
MAP Secretariat
Karen Stanecki
International Programmes Center
Population Division
U.S. Census Bureau
Washington, D.C.  20233-8860
Tel:  301-457-1406    Fax:  301-457-3034
e-mail:  kstaneck@census.gov
REGION 2
PACIFIC1
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 i
THE STATUS AND TRENDS OF HIV/AIDS/STI EPIDEMICS IN ASIA AND THE
HIV/AIDS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC 1
OUT OF THE SHADOWS:  HIV EPIDEMICS ARE EMERGING ACROSS THE
Drug injection leads to explosive growth in several countries 2
Men who have sex with men: a neglected population 4
Sex work moves to centre stage in some epidemics 5
Indonesia?HIV takes off after years of silence 7
Low levels of HIV but signs of risk 9
BRIDGES - LINKS BETWEEN DIFFERENT SUB-POPULATIONS 12
The interface between sex and drugs 12
Men who have sex with men and women 13
Evidence for links between epidemics: molecular epidemiology 15
WHERE IS THE EPIDEMIC GOING? 18
Timing of HIV epidemics ? the unknown factor 18
Societies are changing 19
MOBILITY AND ITS RISKS: AS PEOPLE MOVE, SO DOES HIV 23
Lao workers in Thailand 23
Nepali labourers and sex workers in India 23
Inter-island migration in Indonesia 24
State-to-state migration in India 25
WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT 26
Commitment Works 26
Comprehensive, targeted programmes produce results 28
Sustaining success is a challenge 29
Targeting interventions 31
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE MAP MEETING 33
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 ii
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 1
HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
Since its relatively late introduction in the Asia Pacific region, HIV has made substantial
inroads. Yet the epidemic situation still varies dramatically between and within countries.
The extent of HIV infection among pregnant women is often used as an indicator of HIV?s
penetration into the population at large. By this yardstick, several Asian countries have seen
serious epidemics. India now has many surveillance sites with more than two percent of
pregnant women infected, some rising as high as six percent. Myanmar as well has recorded
prevalence rates of up to five percent among pregnant women in some areas in the country. In
Thailand, prevention efforts curbed new infections so that prevalence among pregnant women
peaked at just over two percent nationally. Infection levels in Cambodia reached above three
percent before rates began falling thanks to prevention efforts similar to those in Thailand.
Other parts of Asia have seen only limited HIV spread thus far. In Bangladesh, Hong Kong,
Laos, Philippines and South Korea, HIV levels in 2000 were still low in virtually all groups.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that HIV will remain low indefinitely. After more than a
decade of comparatively low HIV infection levels in most population groups, there is recent
evidence of rapidly growing epidemics in some populations and geographic areas. A number
of countries ? e.g., China, Indonesia and Vietnam ? are now experiencing explosive
epidemics in different population groups.
Some find reassurance in the fact that only three Asian countries ? Cambodia, Myanmar and
Thailand ? have registered nationwide prevalence rates over one percent thus far, as compared
with national rates ten or more times higher in some African countries. Unfortunately,
national averages are not particularly meaningful in the Asian context where epidemics may
have yet to mature. First of all, they mask the uneven geographic spread of HIV. Because of
the typical pattern of individual-to-individual spread of the virus through sex and needle
sharing, HIV epidemics always begin as geographically localized outbreaks and only later
diffuse out over wider areas of the country. Secondly, when an epidemic is concentrated in a
certain group, it is misleading to take HIV prevalence in the general population as an indicator
of severity. In Myanmar, for example, national HIV rates currently registered in injecting
drug users and sex workers are as high as 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively, compared
with an estimated national prevalence of only 2 percent.
Lastly, national figures are meaningless in huge countries such as China, India and Indonesia
where some states and provinces have more inhabitants than most nations of the world. In
India, for example, the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu each have
more than 55 million inhabitants and have registered HIV rates over three percent in pregnant
women in some sentinel sites and greater than 10 percent in STD patients, far exceeding the
national average of 0.7 percent.
Rather than national averages, it is local data, combined with an understanding of how HIV
epidemics evolve, that provide a more realistic basis for assessing the future course of the
region?s epidemics.
Preceding the 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, members of the
MAP Network met from September 30 until October 2, 2001 to discuss the current status and
trends of the HIV epidemics in Asia and the Pacific. This report is the result of those
discussions and is based on the experience and work of national and international experts in
the region.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 2
Out of the shadows:
HIV epidemics are emerging across the region
HIV has been well established in Asia for many years. However, many countries have
recorded relatively low rates of infection even in sub-populations with high-risk behaviour. At
the time of the last MAP report on Asia from Kuala Lumpur in 1999, only Thailand,
Myanmar, and Cambodia were reporting substantial nation wide epidemics, with a number of
states in India and provinces in China also heavily affected. In the last two years, the picture
has changed dramatically. Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal and Vietnam, for example, have all
registered marked increases in HIV infection in recent years, while in China, home to a fifth
of the world?s people, the infection seems to be moving into new groups of the population.
Drug injection leads to explosive growth in several countries
One of the first populations to be affected by HIV in Asia were injecting drug users. In areas
where drug injection has been long established, such as Manipur in north-eastern India,
Yunnan in south-western China, Myitkyina in northern Myanmar as well as in several urban
areas of Thailand, HIV prevalence rates of over 40 percent have been recorded for several
years.
Now, drug injectors are emerging as a flashpoint for infection in other countries, too. In the
early 1990s, HIV prevention among injection drug users in Nepal had shown some limited
success. A local non-government organization, The Lifegiving and Lifesaving Society,
implemented harm reduction programmes in Kathmandu that included outreach clinics
providing needle exchange and condom promotion. Early surveys during those years showed
that HIV prevalence remained under one percent. However, during the mid 1990s no new
HIV prevalence surveys were conducted. By 1998, half of IDUs in a survey in Kathmandu
tested HIV positive.
In early 1999, the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control of the Ministry of Health in
Nepal conducted an HIV prevalence survey among injecting drug users in 19 cities
throughout the country. The results startled the HIV prevention community. The survey
showed a national overall HIV prevalence of 40 percent, with Kathmandu, the capital,
registering 50 percent HIV positive among its IDU population. These figures served as a call
to action for the government, NGOs, and international donors. A coalition of these
organizations is now planning a major initiative which seeks to provide enhanced prevention
and care to IDUs throughout the country.
In Indonesia, the very phenomenon of drug injection was little known until recently. The bars
in Figure 1 show the number of people in treatment at Jakarta?s main drug addiction hospital.
The rise over time is clear to see and unfortunately it is not possible to take heart from the
drop recorded in 2000. Drug treatment workers attribute it to competition from many other
drug treatment centres that have opened up recently to meet surging demand.
There are other indications, too, that drug use is on the rise. The major referral hospital in
Jakarta reported that the number of people arriving at the emergency room suffering from
drug overdose tripled between 1998 and 1999, the most recent year for which statistics have
been compiled. As the line in Figure 1 shows, HIV prevalence has risen dramatically among
injectors
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 3
Figure 1
HIV infection in injectors was not considered worth measuring until 1999/2000 year, when it
had already reached 15 percent. A year later, 40 percent of injectors in treatment in Jakarta
were already infected. In Bogor, in West Java province, a quarter of injectors tested were
HIV-infected, while in drug users tested in prison in Bali, prevalence was 53 percent.
HIV infection surfaced in drug injectors in Iran in two prison populations in 1996. At that
time, 29 percent of injectors in these two prisons were found to be HIV infected, even though
testing throughout the early 1990s found only sporadic cases. Iran estimates it has some
200,000 drug injectors in the population, and believes the number is rising because shifting
drug trafficking patterns are making heroin more readily available. By 2001, 10 prisons had
reported HIV infection among injectors, with one site reporting prevalence as high as 63
percent.
In Iran as in Indonesia, China and other countries, HIV prevalence was higher among
injectors in prison than among injectors in treatment, where it was recorded at 12 percent in
2001. This may be in part because the highest risk injectors are most likely to get arrested, but
it also almost certainly indicates that some transmission of HIV is taking place on in jails
themselves. Most countries report at least some injecting inside prison, and because needles
are very difficult to access in these situations, sharing is almost universal and the potential for
the spread of HIV is significant. Because of this, public health officials are trying to extend
prevention programmes for drug users into the prison system.
Outpatient visits to drug dependency hospital, and HIV prevalence 
among drug injectors, Jakarta, Indonesia
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Number of outpatient visits 
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percent of drug injectors HIV positive
Numbers in treatment (left scale)
HIV prevalence (right scale)
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 4
Vietnam, which has a longer history of injecting drug use, has also seen a recent jump in HIV
infection in several sites, as Figure 2 shows.
Figure 2
Men who have sex with men: a neglected population
In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many cases were found among men who have sex
with men. As Asian epidemics progressed, however, heterosexual transmission and injecting
drug use came to dominate the HIV landscape, and male-male sex was increasingly ignored or
was never recognized as a risk behaviour in many nations. This does not, however, mean that
the behaviour disappeared. In fact, male-male sex exists in all societies and in many Asian
countries there are culturally accepted forms of male-male sex. Transvestites and transsexuals
? katoey in Thailand, waria in Indonesia, hijra in Bangladesh, eunuchs in India ? commonly
sell sex to men. In many urban centres where the social restrictions of the past are beginning
to be lifted, a more openly ?gay? scene is beginning to emerge.
HIV prevention activities for these men ? whether they are buying or selling sex or having sex
with men without payment -- are few and far between. Partner turnover is often high, and
condom use is relatively low. In the few countries where HIV prevalence among MSM has
been measured, it is found to be high. Cambodia, for example, measured infection in MSM in
2000, and found that 15 percent were infected. Similar levels of HIV are recorded among
male sex workers in Thailand, while in Malaysia HIV prevalence among men who have sex
with men has reached levels of around 10 percent in several states. In the Philippines, which
currently records very low levels of HIV in any group, three out of 10 sentinel sites have
found HIV infection in men who have sex with men. Some 15 percent of respondents in a
HIV prevalence among injecting drug users in three cities, Vietnam
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Percent
Haiphong
Binh Dinh
Ho Chi Minh City
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 5
recent nationwide survey of male sexuality said they had sex with another man in the previous
year.
In Japan, the number of HIV infections detected in men who have sex with men has risen
sharply in recent years, as Figure 3 shows. Male-male sex now accounts for more than twice
as many infections in men as heterosexual sex in Japan. This is a major departure from past
patterns: until two years ago the number of new infections reported in both groups were
roughly equal.
Figure 3
Sex work moves to centre stage in some epidemics
In some countries in which HIV has long been found in injecting drug users, it is now
emerging as a major threat among men who buy sex and the women who sell it to them. This
is extremely worrying, because of the sheer number of men who regularly pay for sex in many
countries in Asia. In country after country, years of low HIV infection rates in sex workers are
giving way to sharp rises. Most HIV surveillance systems do not include clients of sex
workers. Howver, men attending clinics seeking treatment for sexually transmitted infections
are sometimes used as a proxy for clients of sex workers. Vietnam is one of the countries in
which HIV prevalence has risen very quickly among sex workers in recent years, and as
Figure 4 shows, HIV prevalence in STI clinic patients has forged upwards in its wake.
Number of HIV infections reported in Japanese men infected homosexually and 
heterosexually, 1985 - 2000 
0
50
100
150
200
250
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Reported number of HIV cases
Homosexual
Heterosexual
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 6
Figure 4
Also worrying is China, where HIV testing among sex workers in sentinel sites has recently
recorded rapid rises in infection rates.
Figure 5
HIV prevalence among sex workers in three sites, 
and consistent condom use with clients, China 1993-2000
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Percent of sex workers HIV infecte
d
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Percent of sex workers always using condoms with client
s
Consistent condom use (right scale) Yunnan Guangxi Guangazhou
HIV prevalence in sex workers and sexually transmitted infection clinic patients, 
Vietnam 1994-2000
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Percent HIV positive
Sex workers STI patients
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 7
The three lines in Figure 5 show the rise in HIV infection in sex workers in three provinces,
while the bars show that consistent condom use among sex workers is low. As millions of
men frequent sex workers every year, it is inevitable that HIV infection among these men will
rise, and that the fatal virus will eventually get passed on to their wives and regular
girlfriends. Indeed Figure 14 on page 3 shows that sexually transmitted diseases are already
shooting upwards in China.
Indonesia?HIV takes off after years of silence
Indonesia provides an example of  the sudden emergence of HIV after long years of silence.
The country has tested sex workers anonymously for HIV infection since 1988, expanding
from two cities to cover 15 provinces. Year after year this system registered virtually no HIV
infection. This was puzzling, because other parts of the surveillance system, which look at
STIs and risk behaviour, indicated that sex work was common, condom use was very low, and
other sexually transmitted infections were highly prevalent. Between 30 and 50 percent of sex
workers were consistently found to be infected with gonorrhoea or chlamydia.
Information collected in behavioural surveillance between 1996 and 2000 in three Indonesian
cities show that there is a huge gap between the percentage of female sex workers and clients
who know that they will not get AIDS if they always use condoms and those who said they
used condoms in sex work. While four out of five sex workers and clients knew that
consistent condom use prevents HIV infection, consistent use of condoms remained low
between four percent and 12 percent between 1996 and 2000.
Because these levels of risk behaviour did not appear to produce an HIV epidemic for nearly
10 years, a certain feeling of ?safety? set in. Some even thought that perhaps there were
factors in Indonesian society which would continue to protect the country against HIV
indefinitely. Unfortunately, this proved not to be the case.
HIV prevalence among female sex workers in three Indonesian cities, 1994 - 2000
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 2000
Percent HIV positive
Karimun, Riau
Kodya Batam, Riau
Sorong, Irian Jaya
Figure 6
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 8
Figure 6 shows trends in HIV infection from three cities at both ends of the sprawling
archipelago. Other sites have registered similar rises.: For example among women working in
massage parlours in the capital Jakarta, HIV was measured at 18 percent in 2000.
While HIV prevalence in the general population remains very low, with fewer than one
pregnant woman in 400 testing positive for HIV, there are indications that HIV is filtering
outwards into society. As Figure 7 shows, blood donor data show a sharp rise in infection,
with a 10-fold rise in HIV prevalence in blood donors since 1998.
Figure 7
Between exploding HIV infection among injecting drug users,(see earlier in the report) steep
rises in sex workers and low but exponentially rising infection in blood donors, the landscape
of HIV infection in the world?s fourth most populous nation is changing quickly. The map
shows provinces in which exceptionally high rates of infection have been recorded in sex
workers and drug users. The challenge for the leaders of Indonesia?s newly decentralised
provincial governments will be to institute prevention programmes targeted at the highest risk
behaviours and implemented on a huge scale.
HIV prevalence in blood donations in Indonesia, 1992 - 2000
0
0.002
0.004
0.006
0.008
0.01
0.012
0.014
0.016
1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000
Percent
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 9
Figure 8 : Highest HIV prevalence found in surveillance in 1999 ? 2000 in various
population groups and provinces of Indonesia
If there is one clear lesson to be learned from Indonesia, it is that we cannot afford to ignore
the warning signals sent by risky behaviour. Where risk behaviour exists, HIV infection will
eventually go, even if it takes some years to appear. This should be a cause of great concern to
other countries, such as the Philippines and Bangladesh, which have high levels of risk
behaviour, but have yet to record any significant levels of HIV infection.
Low levels of HIV but signs of risk
Sex work exists at significant levels in Bangladesh and the Philippines, and condom use is
low. In Bangladesh, sex workers in brothels as well as on the streets reported rather high
client turnover, by Asian standards. Women working in brothels nationwide averaged 19
clients a week, and street workers reported between 12 and 16 in different cities. Consistent
condom use is among the lowest in the region. This was not entirely surprising, given the
extremely violent conditions in which these women do their jobs. In one site, two thirds of
street-based sex workers reported being raped by police or thugs in the past year, a situation
not conducive to condom use. Injecting drug use is common in Bangladesh too, and needle
sharing is a norm. Over 60 percent of injectors surveyed in northern Bangladesh in 2001 had
shared injecting equipment in the week before the survey and in central Bangladesh it was
fully 93 percent. In both areas, needle sharing had risen significantly since the previous
survey a year earlier. To complete the picture, there is an active male-male sex scene, both
paind and non-paid. Figure 11 on page 3 shows that the risk is compounded by significant
overlaps among all of these different groups with high risk behaviour.
At present, HIV infection is still virtually absent from most of these populations in
Bangladesh. But it is extremely likely that once it is introduced, it will spread rapidly through
these extended networks of risk.
The question of when and how HIV gets introduced is problematic. This is discussed further
later in this report. But in countries with extensive overseas migrant populations it is highly
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   = 0 %   = 1 - 5 % = < 1%  =  > 5 %   
 SW 
17.5% 
IDUs   
40%   
 SW   
26.5%   
IDUs 
53% 
SW    
 6.4%  
8 % 
  
 SW 
 
6%
 
IDUs   
24.5%    SW = sex worker 
IDUs = injecting drug users 
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 10
likely that it will happen sooner or later. Anywhere between five and 12 million Filipinos
work overseas, and a quarter of the country?s 1,500 reported HIV cases so far have been in
workers returning from abroad.
The relatively high levels of sexually transmitted infections recorded in the Philippines --
together with behavioural data showing low levels of condom use ? may provide fertile
ground for HIV spread once it is introduced and reaches a critical mass.
Table 1: Prevalence of Sexually transmitted infections in Angeles City, Philippines.
Registered
female sex
workers
(%infected)
Freelance sex
workers
(%infected)
Men who
have sex with
men
(%infected)
Clients of sex
workers
(%infected)
Chlamydia 37 35 12 16
Gonorrhoea 15 38 1 16
Trichomoniasis 5811
Syphilis 4242 5
Bacterial
Vaginosis
56 71 - -
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 11
VCT and harm reduction programmes in Iran
Before 1999, VCT was available in Iran?s 85 blood banks. In 1999, a large VCT programme
was started, with each urban district having at least oneVCT center. VCT services are
provided according to Ministry of Health guidelines. In addition to the VCT services provided
by blood banks, there are now VCT centers in health centers run by the Ministry of Health,
and in rehabilitation centers run by the Welfare Organization and the Justice Department.
Counseling is provided by psychologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners and other heath
care workers, who have been specifically trained for this purpose. The training of the
counselors has been provided by the Ministry of Health. HIV tests are performed in the
laboratories of the blood transfusion organisation. Sera are screened by two different ELISA
tests, and ELISA-positive sera are confirmed by Western Blot.
All VCT services are provided free of charge. Most clients come directly on their own
initiative, while others are referred, including family members of IDUs and of HIV-positive
individuals. Referred clients who do not report any risk or risk behaviour for themselves are
advised that they do not need an HIV test. However, any client who wishes to take a test,
can do so. In 18 months, over 75,000 clients have been counseled at the VCT centers, and
over 61,000 tested.
The harm reduction programme in Iran is very recent. It was started in 2000 in the capitals of
the 3 provinces that are most affected by injecting drug use (Kermanshah, Shiraz, Tehran). It
is a pilot project initiated by the Ministry of Health.
The harm reduction services are provided in out-patient clinics. These clinics also
provide services for HIV-positive patients (including counseling, clinical management
including antiretrovirals and laboratory tests, and social support), as well as education,
counseling and management for sexually transmitted infections. All services are free of
charge, and confidential. Injecting drug users are provided with counseling, methadone
treatment, and needle exchange. For example, the clinic in Kermanshah sees 700 clients per
month, most of them HIV-positive individuals and their family members. About 150 clients are
on methadone, and about 50 come for needle exchange. Initial reactions are positive, both
from the staff and from the clients. In mid-2001, the results of the pilot programme were
presented to the cabinet and the president. Based on the initial results, the continuation and
expansion of the programme were approved. There are plans for the extension of the harm
reduction programme to 15 more clinics in 2002.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 12
Bridges - links between different sub-populations
What determines whether or not an HIV epidemic spreads outside the groups of people with
highest risk behaviour? Principally, it is due to the sexual linkages between the populations
with highest risk behaviour and any population that has a lower level of risk. Behavioural
surveillance can help to identify these sexual networks. This information can in turn be used
in models to help estimate the future shape of the HIV epidemic in a country, and to gauge the
potential effectiveness of different prevention approaches.
The interface between sex and drugs
Sharing injecting equipment is one of the most effective ways of spreading an HIV epidemic.
Studies in several Asian countries have shown that there is no shortage of risky behaviour
among drug injectors. We know that effective interventions are possible in this group, yet
drug injectors are frequently neglected in prevention programmes. This is due to the fact that
injection drug use is usually illegal and a politically difficult issue, but also to the widespread
perception that HIV epidemics among drug users are ?self-contained?. Therefore there is little
political will to promote HIV prevention for drug-using communities.
In addition to transmission through the sharing of injection equipment, injecting drug users
can also transmit HIV to their sexual partners. In some western countries with long-
established epidemics of injecting drug use, where most addicts have been using drugs for
many years and are older, sexual activity among injecting drug users may be relatively
limited. However, this is certainly not the case in many Asian epidemics. Indeed, behavioural
surveillance data show sexual links between drug users and other communities. In the first
place, male and female drug injectors sometimes sell sex, and some male drug injectors are
regular clients of sex workers. If these individuals are infected with HIV while sharing
needles with other drug injectors, there is every chance that they will go on to infect sex
workers who in turn may infect clients who have nothing to do with the world of injectors.
In Vietnam?s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for example, a significant
minority of street-based sex workers said they had taken drugs. In Hanoi, one sex worker in
five reported recent drug injection, while in Ho Chi Minh City, 16 percent reported injecting.
In both cities, over a third of street-based sex workers did not consistently use condoms, and
rates of condom use with regular clients and non-paying partners were predictably much
lower.
Drug users buy sex as well as sell it. Figure 9 shows the proportion of drug injectors who had
sex with a sex worker in the last year. Nearly a quarter of IDUs in Hanoi and over a fifth in
Da Nang said they had bought sex in the past year, and most did not use condoms. Since HIV
prevalence in this group has recently been recorded at above 60 percent in some cities in
Vietnam, this clearly represents a worrying potential for the wider spread of HIV.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 13
Figure 9
The situation was similar in Bangladesh. Some 14 percent of female sex workers based on the
streets of one southern city said they had injected drugs, and in brothels, six percent said they
were injectors. Compared with Vietnam, far higher proportions of injectors in Bangladesh
paid for sex. Between half and three-quarters of male drug injectors in different cities had
bought sex from women in the past year, and close to one in ten also bought sex from men or
transvestites. Less than a quarter of these injectors reported using a condom the last time they
paid for sex.
Drug injectors also have non-paid sex partners. In a survey in the Indonesian capital Jakarta
during 2000, over a third of sexually active respondents said they had paid for sex in the last
year, but fully 59 percent said they had casual sex with multiple non-paid partners in that
time. Condom use in all of these relationships is limited. Only half of the drug injectors
buying or selling sex used a condom with their most recent paid partner, and less than a
quarter used one in their most recent casual encounter. Predictably, consistent condom use
was even lower. A very low proportion of male injectors reported that either their regular or
their non-regular sex partners were also drug injectors. It is therefore likely that those women
and their infants are at risk for HIV principally because of the injecting behaviour of their
male partners.
These behavioural data suggest that the theory of a ?self-contained epidemic? among drug
injectors does not hold true for Asia.
Men who have sex with men and women
The idea that epidemics can be self-contained within risk groups is sometimes extended also
to HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men. Again, it does not seem to be
supported by the data.
Percentage of drug injectors who bought sex in the last year, 
by consistency of condom use, Vietnam 2000
0 5 10 15 20 25
Hanoi 
Da Nang
Did not always use condoms Always used condoms
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 14
While communities self-identified as ?gay? are found throughout Asia, they co-exist with a
more extensive practice of sex between men who interact with many different types of
partners, as was discussed previously. In some countries, transvestites and transsexuals sell
anal sex to men who identify themselves as heterosexual. These transvestites are often
culturally well defined (for example waria in Indonesia, eunuchs or hijra in Bangladesh and
India, katoey in Thailand), and high proportions are active in sex work. But by no means are
all male sex workers transvestites. Other male sex workers sell sex to men and to women, and
many also have sex with people who are not their clients.
The data in Figure 10 come from a recent study of over 200 MSM in Cambodia. Most of
these men sell sex to men, but over 60 percent also have sex with women, and many go to
female sex workers. Fewer than half of the men who sold sex used a condom with their last
paid partner.
Overall, 40 percent of men in the study had sex with both men and women in the past month,
and a minimum of 13 percent had unprotected penetrative sex partners of both sexes in that
time. HIV prevalence among these men was around 15 percent. Inevitably, HIV will infect
many of their female partners, and where those partners are sex workers it will also be passed
on to their heterosexual clients.
Figure 10
Similarly in northern Thailand, compared to exclusively heterosexual men, men who had sex
with men had twice the number of lifetime female partners, were more likely to visit female
sex workers, and were less likely to use condoms.
In Indonesia, over half of transvestites reported a regular non-commercial partnership with
another man, and 15 percent of these partners were married.
It is important to note that these links are not necessarily between only one group and another.
In some parts of Asia there are multiple simultaneous links among all of the higher
behavioural risk groups. One such example is Bangladesh, as illustrated in Figure 11. In
  Men who have sex with men in Cambodia: 
penetrative anal and vaginal sex with different partner types in the last six months 
0 
10 
20 
30 
40 
50 
60 
70 
80 
90 
Had sex with  Sold sex to Bought sex from Multiple partners of this 
sex (last month) 
Pe
rc
en
t 
Man 
Woman 
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 15
behavioural surveillance studies among MSM, IDUs, female sex workers(FSW), and
rickshaw pullers (a male population), sexual or injecting links were found between each of
these groups at relatively high levels. Also of note, a substantial portion of each group except
sex workers were married, potentially putting their wives at risk.
FSW
(9% married)
IDU
(40% married)
69% visit FSW 
33%
Visit
FSW
34%
Visit
FSW
Potential spread of HIV from high risk groups to the general 
Population, Central Bangladesh
SM
Rickshawpullers
(76% married)
MSM
(46% married)9 Percent       are IDU
2 Percent     are        IDU
1 Percent are IDU
Figure 11
FSW = Female sex worker  IDU = Injecting drug user  MSM= Men who have sex with men
Evidence for links between epidemics: molecular epidemiology
Using the techniques of molecular epidemiology one can identify different subtypes of HIV.
In the early days of the Thai epidemic, the subtype most common among injecting drug users
in Bangkok was subtype B, while that among sex workers and clients was almost entirely
subtype E. This subtype ?segregation? has been frequently used to argue that the injecting
drug use and heterosexual epidemics in Thailand were not related to one another.
But a closer examination of molecular epidemiology findings in Thailand shows a more
dynamic situation, which is actually more indicative of linked epidemics. In subsequent
studies in Bangkok, it was found that the percentage of new HIV infections in injectors
attributable to subtype E (the ?heterosexual? subtype) increased over time, as Figure 12
shows. Those newly acquiring subtype E were younger and more likely to be single than
those getting subtype B; young, single men are also the ones more likely to be sexually active.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 16
Percent of new infections among injecting drug users in Bangkok 
that are infected with HIV subtype E, since 1988
0 102030405060708090
1995+
1992-93
1990-91
1988-89
Percent
Figure 12
A likely interpretation of these findings is as follows. An initial outbreak of subtype B
infection occurred among Bangkok injectors. At the same time, sex work was rapidly
spreading subtype E. Infection levels at some Bangkok drug treatment centers went from zero
to almost 40 percent in less than eight months and infection levels among sex workers rose at
comparable rates. However, as many of the younger, more sexually active injectors visited
sex workers, they acquired subtype E and then retransmitted it both to other sex workers and
to other drug users through needle sharing. Over time, the behavioural linkages among these
epidemics and the competitive pressures among the subtypes resulted in subtype E becoming
dominant.
Furthermore, in upper northern Thailand, where the epidemic was most severe, the molecular
epidemiology never showed strong subtype segregation. In small samples of drug user in
Chiang Mai tested in 1991, two-thirds of the infections were already subtype E.
Molecular data among men who have sex with men and male sex workers in Thailand also
support the idea of links to the heterosexual subtype E epidemic. In Bangkok, a study among
homosexual and bisexual men found that, of those infected, 24 percent were infected with
subtype E, six percent were infected with the same subtype B that was found in injecting drug
users in the late 1980s, and 52 percent with a different form of subtype B. In northern
Thailand, a study among male sex workers found 94 percent infected with subtype E.
In neighbouring Myanmar, the subtype situation is even more complex. In Yangon, both
IDUs and heterosexuals have predominantly subtype B, while in border areas closer to
Thailand, much more subtype E is present in both IDUs and heterosexuals, but neither
subtype dominates. And in Vietnam, subtype E is found in both sex workers and drug users.
Thus, molecular epidemiology suggests that epidemics in different sub-populations are
neither homogeneous nor isolated from one another.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 17
India ? The launch of large scaled interventions to curb the largest epidemic in the region
With an estimated total of 3.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2000, India is
the country with the largest epidemic in the region. Following initial prevention efforts
primarily focussed on the health sector, in 1999, there was a shift in paradigm with the
implementation of a multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS prevention and control programme that
mainstreamed intervention efforts into relevant sectors. Decentralization of the programme to
state levels was introduced to improve the effectiveness of planning and implementation.
There has been an encouraging political response to the epidemic in recent years. The
Prime Minister has urged the members of parliament to recognize this epidemic as the most
important public health problem in the country. He also reviewed the implementation of the
programme with chief ministers of high prevalence states. The business and industrial
communities have shown keen interest to address the challenges posed by the epidemic in
their sectors. Recently, the Prime Minister inaugurated The ?Business Coalition Trust on
HIV/AIDS in India?.
Large scale interventions among populations with high risk behaviour aim at 80percent
coverage in the next five years. Today, 540 such interventions are in place in all states in the
country. These interventions aim at bringing about behaviour change, and deliver services
(such as counselling, promotion of condom use and STI treatment) to populations that are
usually hard to reach and not appropriately covered by general services.
Massive school AIDS education programmes were also launched, aimed at prevention of
HIV in the general population. During 2001, 20-25percent of schools will be covered with
school AIDS education programmes, including peer education.  ?University Talk AIDS?
programmes implemented in close collaboration between the National AIDS Control
Programme (NACO) and the department of youth affairs have already reached about 4
million college students.  More than 145 Toll free AIDS help lines already exist in various
cities in the country; and 265 VCT centres provide counseling and testing facilities, mostly in
high prevalence states.  By 2002-2003, each district will have at least one VCT centre.  Also,
effective legislation is in place to ensure mandatory screening of blood for all blood
transmissible infections including HIV in all 1,325 blood banks in the country.
Recognizing the important links between STIs and HIV, 504 STI clinics are supported to
enhance their diagnostic capacity with drugs for the management of STIs. A family health
awareness campaign, organized once a year, is targeted at all 15-45 year olds to increase
knowledge and provide STI services. Social mobilisation at grassroot level and availability of
drugs are key elements of this campaign. So far, responses in the population during the
recent round have been very positive.
Management and care of HIV/AIDS patients with opportunistic infections is another focus of
the programme. Twelve special community care centres have been established initially in
high prevalent states to provide care to terminally ill patients. To ensure effective integration
of HIV/AIDS prevention activities collaborations are also strengthened with other
programmes including the Reproductive and Child Health Programme, the Revised National
Tuberculosis Control Programme, and the Women & Child Nutrition Programme.
These are encouraging changes in direction, but given the huge size and diversity of the
country, curbing the large Indian epidemic poses tremendous challenges.  These efforts will
need to expand rapidly to achieve high coverage, be sustained, and be monitored closely for
effectiveness.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 18
Where is the epidemic going?
Timing of HIV epidemics ? the unknown factor
A number of factors determine whether HIV will spread once introduced into a population,
including the frequency of high-risk sex and needle sharing, the proportion of the population
engaging in these behaviours, the mix of sex partners, and the levels of other sexually
transmitted infections. Although these factors influence HIV transmission individually and in
combination, the fact that HIV epidemics consist of multiple, overlapping epidemics evolving
on different time scales makes them inherently unpredictable. Even when population groups
engage in sufficient risk behaviour to support the growth of an epidemic, it can take a
surprisingly long time for HIV to reach epidemic levels. In Thailand, for example, although
HIV was introduced in 1984 and had started spreading heterosexually by 1985, explosive
heterosexual transmission did not occur nationally until 1989. Similarly, in Kathmandu,
Nepal, despite documented high levels of needle-sharing in the early 1990s, HIV infections
among injecting drug users remained negligible until they started rising rapidly six or seven
years later. By 1997, half the users were infected.
Thus, the mere presence of high levels of risk behaviour does not guarantee immediate
epidemic growth, even though the potential for growth still exists.  This raises concerns for
countries such as Bangladesh, where behavioural surveillance has shown high levels of risk,
especially among sex workers and men who have sex with men, and yet so far HIV
prevalence remains low.
In order for an epidemic to expand, the average infected person must pass the virus on to
more than one person. How quickly new infections occur then depends on a number of
factors, such as the frequency of risk behaviour.  For example, decreasing the number of
clients of sex workers from two per night to one per night may make the difference between
an epidemic that takes five years to begin rapid growth and one that takes 10 to 15 years.
The efficiency of the mode of transmission is another factor affecting the rate of HIV spread.
For example, HIV rates among injecting drug users can grow very rapidly. In Bangkok,
prevalence grew from virtually nothing to almost 40 percent in less than eight months and in
Manipur, India, prevalence grew from a few percent to over 80 percent in only three to four
years. Similarly, HIV infection levels among sex workers and men with sexually transmitted
infections (most of whom buy sex) can also increase rapidly, as Figure 13 shows. In contrast,
the husband-to-wife component of the epidemic often lags behind the sex work epidemic by
several years. In Thailand, infections among wives of HIV-infected clients of sex workers
peaked approximately five years after the infections among their husbands.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 19
Figure 13
Although we cannot predict the future scope or time-line of HIV spread in the Asian region,
there are two certainties. The first is that low rates today are no guarantee of low rates
tomorrow. Early in the Thai epidemic, for instance, no one could have foreseen that by 1994,
10-15 percent of the entire adult population of certain northern provinces would become HIV-
infected.
The second certainty is that the current highest national infection levels in the region of two to
three percent do not represent a ?natural limit? imposed by behaviour patterns.  Many experts
believe that the HIV levels now being recorded in Cambodia and Thailand could have been
much higher in the absence of strong intervention programmes. These two countries
undertook effective prevention with good coverage of sex worker/client networks and thereby
dramatically changed the subsequent course of their epidemics. Countries that still have few
HIV infections would do well to draw inspiration from these interventions rather than comfort
from their currently low infection rates.
The unpredictability of the future of any given HIV epidemic, and the fact that infection rates
may quickly increase even after years of very low levels, is well illustrated by recent data
from three countries - China, Indonesia and Japan.
Societies are changing
China?s HIV epidemic was initially concentrated among injecting drug users and, in some
areas, among those affected by unsanitary blood collection practices.  However, the opening
of Chinese society has changed sexual practices and this has resulted in recent increases in
sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.  Figure 14 shows that reported STI
infections in China slowly increased during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and then increased
dramatically from 430,000 cases in 1997 to 860,000 cases in 2000. This indicates that
HIV prevalence in sex workers in various Asian countries, 1989 - 2000
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Percent HIV positive
Ho Chi Minh City
Cambodia
Thailand
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 20
unprotected sex with non-monogamous partners is on the rise in China. Since infection with
curable STIs also greatly increases the efficiency of HIV transmission, these changes in social
mores pose a double challenge to those working to prevent the spread of HIV in the world?s
most populous nation.
Cases of sexually transmitted infections treated, China, 1985-2000
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Cases of sexually transmitted infections, in thousands
Figure 14
Indonesia is another dynamic society that is undergoing rapid economic and political change.
Huge numbers of young people are moving in search of work from the countryside to the
cities, environments that have less social support and control. This process of urbanization
contributes to a social dislocation that is compounded by politically motivated violence and
internal displacement. It is estimated that more than a million Indonesians had to flee their
homes in the violence that surrounded the political reforms of the late 1990s.  The social
dislocation brought about by these demographic and economic changes will likely lead to
behavioural change as well, such as more injecting drug use and more liberal sexual
behaviour that may increase the spread of HIV and other STIs.
Already in Indonesia, many married men have other partners and premarital sex is not a rare
event, especially among young men in occupations that give them access to cash and provide
opportunities to travel. For example, eight in ten unmarried transportation workers questioned
in Jakarta, Surabaya and Manado in 2000 said they were sexually active, up from two-thirds
in 1996. About half of all unmarried men in these groups lost their virginity in their teens.
One young man in five in these ?high risk? occupational groups lost their virginity to a sex
worker, slightly more than the proportion who said their first sex was with their wives. Some
98 percent of 300 clients of sex workers interviewed in Kupang, West Timor, said they had
sex before marriage, and in that city, over half of first sex acts were with sex workers. The
early exposure to commercial sex is worrying because young men having sex for the first time
are unlikely to have the courage to ask a sex worker to use a condom, even if they want to.
In the nation?s two largest cities, the trend among high school students appears to be towards
more premarital sex, as illustrated in Figure 15. These data are very limited, but they are
supported by anecdotal evidence, such as a massive upswing in attention paid to boyfriends
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 21
and sexual relationships in young women?s magazines. Clearly, more data are required to
confirm this apparent trend.
Figure 15
Since the economic crisis developed in Indonesia in 1998, the number of children living on
the streets of large cities has increased.  Many of these children have sex, and for some of
them sex is their source of income. Recent studies among street children in Jakarta and
Central Java found that between a quarter and a third of the children were sexually active and
only six percent had ever used a condom. Not surprisingly, many were infected with STIs: in
Jakarta, one child in seven had a history of STI and one in 20 were injecting drugs.
The sexual behaviour of youth in Japan also appears to have changed significantly in the last
few years. Chlamydia among femlaes and gonorrhea infections among males are on the rise,
and induced abortions among teenage women have nearly doubled in the past five years.
These findings suggest increased rates of unprotected sexual intercourse and are supported by
results of a nationwide sexual behaviour survey conducted in 1999. Compared with earlier
surveys, results from 1999 showed that 18-24 year olds initiated sexual intercourse earlier,
had more casual partners, more concurrent sexual relationships, and more paid sex. All these
changes, except for paid sex, were most pronounced among young girls greatly reducing the
traditional male-female difference in sexual behaviours.
Figure 16 shows the proportion of each age group who report having had sex with more than
five people in their lifetime. The patterns among men is as expected: older men who have
been sexually active for longer report more lifetime partners than younger men. But among
women, the pattern is drastically different. Over a third of women under 25 reported having
sex with five or more men in their lives, far higher than among older women who grew up
when the restrictions on premarital sex were far more stringent.
Percent of high school students who report having had sex, 
two Indonesian cities, 1997-1999
0
5
10
15
20
25
1997 1999
Percent who have ever had sex
Jakarta boys Surabaya boys Jakarta girls Surabaya girls
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 22
Percent of men and women in Japan who report more than five lifetime partners, 
by age group  
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-59
Percent
Male
Female
Figure 16
Taken together, these findings suggest that Japanese youth have changed their sexual
behaviour in recent years and thereby increased their vulnerability to HIV.  The sexual
behaviours of youth need careful monitoring in Japan and other Asian countries to assess their
HIV risk and to guide the development of improved prevention programmes.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 23
Mobility and its risks: As people move, so does HIV
The types of mobility that promote HIV transmission ? labor migration, urbanization, the
trafficking of women, and displacement of refugees ? are found throughout Asia. While most
of the evidence relating mobility to HIV is found in Africa, there is increasing evidence in
Asia of the same types of linkages.
Movement of populations from low prevalence areas or countries to high prevalence areas and
back again gives HIV an opportunity to move with those populations. This type of movement
within Asia occurs with disturbing regularity, as the examples below demonstrate.
Lao workers in Thailand
Sandwiched in between the higher prevalence countries of Cambodia and Thailand, HIV
prevalence has remained low in the Lao People?s Democratic Republic up to the present time.
But workers from this country go to neighboring Thailand for temporary work. Although HIV
prevention has been successful in Thailand, HIV prevalence among sex workers is relatively
high. While in Thailand, some Lao workers may visit sex workers and become infected, thus
bringing HIV back home with them. Already some of the early cases of HIV detected in Lao
PDR are among migrant workers returning from work in Thailand.
Nepali labourers and sex workers in India
A substantial proportion of the adolescent and adult male population in Nepal seeks
temporary, and sometimes permanent, work in several states in neighboring India. In some
parts of the Far Western region of Nepal, the percentage of men who migrate to India is as
high as 70 percent. Migration between origin sites in Nepal and destination areas in India is
not random. Districts in Nepal are ?linked? to areas in India through historical ties,
middlemen organizations who forge these ties, and the workers themselves who often bring
their brothers and friends. Thus, men from Bahjang district in Far Western Nepal often seek
work in Bangalore, India, whereas men from the neighboring Doti and Achham districts often
go to Mumbai (formerly Bombay). In terms of HIV transmission, the destination matters
greatly. All risk behaviours being equal, those workers going to high-prevalence areas, such
as Mumbai, are far more likely to become infected by HIV.
A recent survey among returning migrants and non-migrants in Nepal shows some of the first
evidence of what could become a major epidemic in Nepal. In an area of Doti district in the
Far West region of Nepal, 10 percent of the returning migrants from Mumbai were infected
with HIV, compared to two percent of the non-migrants. The sample sizes of the survey were
small (100 migrants and 50 non-migrants), suggesting that confirmatory evidence is needed.
Nevertheless, the results are highly suggestive of a burgeoning epidemic in the Far West.
Another HIV/STI and behavioural survey of sex workers in the Terai area of Nepal shows the
association of HIV with sex work and the trafficking of women to India. Researchers found
an overall HIV prevalence among the sex workers of four percent. However, striking
prevalence differences were found according to whether the women had done sex work in
India. As Figure 17 illustrates, women who never worked in India had far lower prevalence
(1.2 percent) than those who had worked in India. Women who worked in commercial sex in
Mumbai registered the highest HIV prevalence (50 percent), followed by those who worked
in other areas of India (7.4 percent). In summary, even though only a small percentage of
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 24
women had worked in India (17 percent), they accounted for three-quarters of all of the HIV
infections found in the sample.
Figure 17
In order to analyze the effects of trafficking on HIV prevalence, the researchers also asked the
women whether they had been coerced to go to India. Almost one-third (30 percent) of the
women reported that they had been coerced, and this was highly associated with HIV
infection. Women who reported being coerced were three times more likely to be HIV-
infected than those who were not.
Inter-island migration in Indonesia
An interesting feature of the sex industry in Indonesia is the extreme mobility of both the
clients and the sex workers. One study interviewed 300 clients of sex workers in Kupang,
West Timor, and found among them men from more than half the provinces of Indonesia.
Eighty percent of these clients said they had bought sex in other cities around the province
and country. In fact, in three other cities over 40 percent of men who bought sex did so in
more than one city in the last three months.
Sex workers in Indonesia are also very mobile.  They typically work in one place for around a
year before moving on to another location. In one study, nearly half of sex workers had
already worked in another area despite being less than a year in the business on average. This
kind of mobility acts as an engine, driving the spread of the virus throughout the archipelago.
But, it also gives local communities an excuse to ignore the importance of the risk behaviours
that are taking place in their midst, by claiming that sex work is an ?outsiders? problem. This
gives a false sense of security, because regardless of where the sex workers originate, a
substantial proportion of their clients are always men from the local community. A study of
the male and female sex industries in Bali estimates that four out of five clients were local,
while in Kupang, 37 percent of sex workers? clients were local.
HIV prevalence in sex workers in Nepal, by history of sex work in India 
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Worked only in Nepal Worked in India but not Mumbai Worked in Mumbai
Percent HIV positive
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 25
State-to-state migration in India
Pondichery
Gujarat
Karnataka
LakshwadeepKerala
Tamil  Nadu
Andhra Pradesh
Punjab
J &  K
Hi achal Pradesh
Chandigarh
West Bengal
Orissa
Andam an &  Nicobar
Mizo ram
 > 1% Antenatal Women
 > 5% High Risk Group
 < 5% High Risk Group
India: Population movements from low to high prevalence areas, 2000 (total 35 million)
Maharashta
Madh ya Pradesh
Goa
Raj han
Haryana
Utar Pradesh
Del i
Bi ar
Megh alaya
Assam
Si m
Manipur
Tripura
Arunachal Pradesh
Nagaland
Dadra Nagar  Haveli
Daman  & Diu
Some of the states that serve as destination states for workers from other states also happen to
be those registering high HIV prevalence. These include the more industrialized states of
Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. These states attract male and female laborers from
all over the country, but particularly from those states with lower income levels such as Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh (see map). While these states have relatively
low levels of HIV infection, labour migration to high prevalence states may soon change this.
Indeed, many of the migrating men leave their wives and families behind, thus increasing the
likelihood that they will visit sex workers during their stays away from home.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 26
We can do something about it
The good news for Asia is that, because the majority of the population does not engage in
high-risk behaviour, focusing on those who do is both affordable and effective. Focused
interventions can keep infection rates low in specific groups and reduce the risk of extensive
HIV spread in the population at large. As has been demonstrated with sex workers and their
clients in Thailand and Cambodia, these programmes can be extremely effective in the early
stages of the epidemic before spread begins in the broader population.
Commitment Works
Thailand was the first Asian country to launch large-scale preventive action in 1991, although
by that time a serious epidemic had already developed in the north of the country. An
extensive system for nationwide HIV surveillance, started in 1989, monitored the growth of
the epidemic from its early stages. The findings from this system were disseminated not only
to policymakers, but also extensively through the mass media raising the public?s awareness.
Behavioural and epidemiological studies established the extent of risk in the population and
identified sex work and sexually transmitted infections as the major contributors to the
epidemic at the time. These data were used to advocate with the Parliament and the Prime
Minister for political commitment and financial support. In 1991, the government made HIV
prevention a national priority and provided a budget of $10 million USD. The result was
nationwide, major behaviour change.
The percentage of adult men visiting sex workers halved between 1990 and 1993 and was
sustained at those levels. Condom use in sex work rose from 10 percent in 1989 to 30 percent
in 1990 and 60 percent in 1993. By the mid-1990s condoms were being used in nearly 90
percent of all sex work contacts.
Modeled new HIV infections in men, women and children in Thailand, 1985 - 2020
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Year
Male
Female
Child
100% condom 
program begins
Figure 18
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 27
Models have been developed that closely reproduce the observed trends in HIV in the
monitored groups in Thailand. Figure 18 shows the output of these models:  the annual
number of new infections was successfully reduced from a high of 140,000 in 1990 to 30,000
by the year 2000. The start of the decline coincides with the implementation of extensive
national scale prevention efforts.
Models also allow us to examine what might have happened had no prevention programmes
been undertaken and behaviours remained as they were in 1990. In the absence of intervention
programmes, Thailand would today have adult prevalence rates of 10-15 percent rather than
the actual level of 1-2 percent. The epidemiological evidence from Thailand?s upper North
supports these estimates. In the most heavily affected Northern provinces almost 25 percent of
young men and 10 percent of pregnant women contracted HIV. Behavioural studies find
regional differences in behaviour are comparatively small in Thailand ? so had condom use
not risen quickly and use of sex worker services not fallen so rapidly, the situation in the
country would be far more serious today.
Cambodia has follwed Thailand in promoting safe behaviour. As Figure 19 shows, risk
behaviour among several groups of males in Cambodia fell consistently over the late 1990s.
Fewer men reported buying sex from sex workers, while condom use in these encounters rose
significantly. Sex workers, as well, reported steep increases in consistent condom use.
Figure 19
Figure 20 compares behavioural trends for police and sex workers in Cambodia with trends in
HIV prevalence measured in the same groups. It shows that reductions in risky behaviour
were accompanied by a reduction in HIV prevalence, suggesting that behaviour change is
beginning to contribute to curbing the HIV epidemic in Cambodia.
The drop in risky behaviour reported by policemen is echoed in a drop in unprotected sex
reported by sex workers in Cambodia. And in this population, as well, HIV prevalence
appears to be on the decline. These data add up to a fairly consistent picture of falling HIV
prevalence following successful prevention efforts.
Percent of men buying sex in the last month and percent consistently using condoms 
with sex workers, Cambodia 1997-1999
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1997 1998 1999*
Military buying sex Police buying sex Motorcycle taxi drivers buying sex
Police using condoms Military using condoms Motorcycle taxi drivers using condoms
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 28
Figure 20
Comprehensive, targeted programmes produce results
Condom use is also on the rise in Nepal. An integrated condom promotion and STI control
programme has been operating along the East-West highway in the Terai Region of Nepal
since 1994. An accompanying behavioural surveillance system monitors behaviour change
among female sex workers, male transport workers, and male laborers. Results through the
year 2000 show that condom use increased among all groups. From a low of 35 percent in
1994, reported condom use with last client increased among sex workers to 62 percent in
1998 and 86 percent in 2000. The client groups show similar increases. Transport workers
have increased their consistent condom use with sex workers from 36 percent in 1998 to 48
percent in 2000; male laborers increased from 23 percent in 1998 to 43 percent in 2000.
An HIV/STI prevalence survey conducted in 1999 in the same region confirms that overall
HIV prevalence remains low:  3.9 percent among female sex workers and 1.5 percent among
truckers.
A comprehensive package of interventions in Sonagachi, India, within the sex worker?s
cooperative resulted in an increase in condom use, a decrease in syphilis, and continuing low
levels of HIV prevalence.
However, success is limited to intervention programmes that are sustained. By tracking trends
over time, routine surveillance systems that include behavioural surveys can identify plateaus
or reversals in programme success. Tamil Nadu state in India has for several years operated a
consistent, high-quality behavioural surveillance system. And for several years, this system
recorded reductions in risk behaviour that reflected the success of the state?s comprehensive
HIV prevention programme. By measuring the success, behavioural surveillance systems
provided evidence to local policy-makers who want to sustain and expand HIV prevention
efforts. As Figure 21, however, there are worrying signs in the last two survey rounds that
Risk behaviour and HIV prevalence among policemen and sex workers, 
Cambodia 1997-2000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1997 1998 1999 2000
Percent
Unprotected commercial sex last month, police
HIV prevalence, police
Unprotected commercial sex last week, sex workers
HIV prevalence, sex workers
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 29
initial gains in condom use among factory workers have not been sustained. Condom use
appears to have plateaued at around two-thirds of paid sexual encounters in this group, and
may now be decreasing. This may suggest ?message fatigue,? and argues for fresh prevention
efforts using a variety of approaches.
Figure 21
Sustaining success is a challenge
By the late 1980s, Australia and New Zealand had successfully curtailed their epidemics
among injecting drug users and men who have sex with men.  The Australian state of Victoria
has an excellent record of managing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with the annual number of new
HIV diagnoses declining dramatically from a peak of 528 in 1985 to 140 in 1999. In 2000,
however, the annual number of new HIV diagnoses increased. As in the US and several
European countries, there is also recent evidence in Australia that unsafe sex behaviour is
increasing, highlighting the need for sustained efforts in prevention.
Consumption of commercial sex and condom use among truckers and factory workers, 
Tamil Nadu, 1996-2000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Percent
Commercial/casual sex, truckers Commercial/casual sex, factory workers
Condom use at last commercial sex, truckers Condom use at last commercial sex, factory workers
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 30
Legislation for Prevention
In the absence of a vaccine, HIV prevention efforts have focused on modifying risk
behaviours to reduce or eliminate transmission. The education of individuals at risk for HIV is
only one component of these prevention efforts, and by itself is rarely sufficient to effect
behaviour change. Environmental influences such as peer opinion, prevailing social values
and the availability of any necessary adjuncts to effect the behaviour change (such as
condoms and needle exchange) play crucial roles in enabling and reinforcing behavioural
change. In this regard, HIV prevention programmes are similar to other public health
prevention programmes that try to change a risk behaviour, whether it be smoking, drinking
alcohol and driving, or the use of seat belts, all of which need strong political support.
The creation of an enabling environment for the desired behaviour change is the challenge
facing many Asian governments today. The tools available to governments to do this are the
passing of legislation and the promulgation of policies to support such environments. An
example of how governments can support the creation of an environment that is supportive
of HIV prevention is provided by the Philippines.
The Philippine government exercised leadership early and, along with its civil society
partners, clearly articulated its intentions. The centrepiece of this early action was the
enactment of the Philippine AIDS Law in 1998. This law mandated measures on education
and information, adoption of safe practices and behaviours, conduct of testing, screening and
counselling, and provision of health and support services. This law also reaffirmed the
human rights of infected and affected persons with provisions protecting their confidentiality
and prohibiting discriminatory acts and policies. Moreover, it created the Philippine National
AIDS Council, the country?s highest policy making, coordinating and directing body on
HIV/AIDS.
This landmark legislation also provided the legal mandate for local government executives to
develop ordinances for the implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention and control measures in
their areas. Armed with sound HIV surveillance information and ably supported by other
government and non-government organizations, the city health offices of Angeles, General
Santos, Quezon, and Zamboanga successfully advocated for the passing of ordinances that
required: 100 percent condom availability and use in registered entertainment establishments
where sex work occurs; the provision of STD/HIV education and reproductive health care
services for sex workers; an age limit of 18 years for women hired to work in registered
entertainment establishments; and the incorporation of surveillance activities into the city
health plan to ensure the on-going collection of data for programme monitoring and
evaluation, and decision-making.
Both national and local levels of the Philippine government believe that acting now is the best
way to avoid a serious HIV epidemic, and this belief has been translated into action through
legislation.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 31
Targeting interventions
The purpose of targeting is to reach intended clients with a particular intervention, message,
or resource. Targeting should not be confused with a narrow focus or limited scope. Even
interventions intended for a broad audience, e.g., the ?general? population, need to be
properly targeted. Targeting helps to ensure that the intended audience is actually exposed to
the message, understands the message, and has the information needed to appropriately
respond to the message.
Targeting should not be confused with prioritization. All interventions should be targeted, but
not all potential interventions have the same priority. Prioritization relates to the importance
of the population or behaviour in terms of their current or potential role in the epidemic, while
targeting helps to define how best to reach that population or address that behaviour.
Effective targeting needs to build on market research in effectively reaching the intended
audience. For example, messages intended to reach youth will have to use appropriate
language and packaging. Also, effective targeting must reflect a genuine understanding of the
context of the behaviours we are attempting to change.  This point is illustrated in the
experience of Bangladesh in a recent intervention. In just two years, the proportion of brothel-
based sex workers reporting that they asked all of their clients to use condoms increased from
18 to 46 percent. Moreover, over half of all respondents had condoms on hand and could
show them to the interviewer. However, this increase had no effect on the proportion actually
using condoms all the time. In the Bangladesh context, the clients are ultimately in control of
decisions about condom use. Distributing condoms and leaving it up to sex workers to effect
their use was insufficient to increase consistent use.
Effective targeting must go beyond simplistic population targeting and address the entire
nexus of behaviours relating to the transmission being targeted. Thus, for example in the
Bangladesh situation described above, interventions targeting clients of sex workers and
brothel owners could potentially complement the sex worker intervention and result in
increased condom use.
Intervention targets must be continuously re-evaluated over time. HIV epidemics are dynamic
and targets for interventions must reflect that dynamism. For example, throughout the 1990s
in Thailand casual sex and heterosexual transmission related to sex work have been the main
targets of the program. As the following graph illustrates, however, between 1990 and 2000,
transmission from sex workers to male clients has declined from 77 percent to 12 percent of
all new infectins, while there has been an increasing share of transmission from husbands to
wives from 9 percent to 43 percent, and among injecting drug users from 5 percent to 18
percent. As yet, however, the focus of intervention efforts in Thailand has not changed to
reflect these dynamics.
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 32
Figure 22
Given the current focus of HIV transmission in Asia, the limitation in resources, and the
window for opportunity, high priority should be given to prevention of HIV transmission
related to sex work, injecting drug use, and other situations of high risk. However, as
experience has shown, effective interventions will have to address all groups involved, as well
as the context in which such transmission happens. Targeting interventions on young people
in order to increase awareness, knowledge and life skills to prevent risky behaviour is a most
cost effective investment into the future in all societies.
Distribution of new infections in Thailand by source of infection
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Male from sex worker
IDU
From husband to wife
The status and trends of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, October 2001 33
List of participants in the MAP meeting
 Melbourne, September 30 ? October 2, 2001
Name Country
Chris Archibald Canada
Tasnim Azim Bangladesh
Madhulekha Bhattacharya India
Tim Brown Thailand
Brynn Epstein USA
Peter Ghys Switzerland
Mohammad Mehdi Gouya Iran
Mitsuhiro Kamakura Japan
Benu B. Karki Nepal
Masahiro Kihara Japan
Maria Consorcia Lim-Quizon Philippines
Ryuichi Komatsu Japan
Richard Mateo Philippines
Stephen Mills Thailand
Rob Moodie Australia
Elizabeth Pisani Indonesia
Dr. Reddy India
Tobi Saidel Thailand
Bernhard Schwartl?nder Switzerland
Endang Sedyaningsih-Mamahit Indonesia
Mohammad Shaukat India
Fonny Silfanus Indonesia
Karen Stanecki De Lay USA
Peter Way USA
Bahram Yeghaneh Iran
Zhen Xiwen China