Drug Use and HIV Vulnerability Policy Research Study in Asia

Effective prevention programmes have reduced HIV risk and lowered or stabilised HIV transmission rates in some countries of Asia. At the same time, however, warning flags have been raised after information from new data collection efforts have revealed that injecting drug use is spreading and that condom use is uncommon, including among clients of sex workers and men who have sex with men. In many places prevention efforts are hampered by the shame and stigma attached to AIDS.

Drug use and HIV vulnerability remain issues of great concern for many countries in Asia and the Pacific because surveys indicate that in some geographical areas more than sixty per cent of all injecting drug users are HIV- positive. In several Asian countries, injecting drug users represent the largest group of those who are HIV-positive.