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Home = =E2=80=BA Hot = Topics =E2=80=BA=20 ICAAP renews focus on HIV/AIDS in the region

ICAAP renews focus on HIV/AIDS in the region

The 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific = was held=20 in Bali, Indonesia, on 9-13 August, 2009. The theme of this = year=E2=80=99s=20 Congress was =E2=80=98Empowering People, Strengthening = Networks=E2=80=99. It=20 brought together over 4, 000 people from various backgrounds in = Asia and=20 the Pacific region to meet and share knowledge, skills, ideas and = research=20 findings related to HIV and AIDS.

At the opening ceremony, the President of Indonesia, Susilo = Bambang=20 Yudhoyono, endorsed a Declaration calling for HIV prevention in = most=20 at-risk groups, including men who have sex with men, sex workers = and=20 injecting drug users. This moving speech was a turning point for = HIV=20 positive people and a historic step for Indonesia. The Declaration = was=20 agreed in a meeting chaired by Indonesia=E2=80=99s First Lady. = This involved=20 Australia=E2=80=99s AIDS Ambassador, Murray Proctor, along = with other AIDS=20 Ambassadors and Champions from the region.

Key presentations acknowledged:

the need to scale up HIV prevention for men who have sex = with men=20 and sex workers=20
progress on harm reduction by governments in Asia, = particularly=20 China=20
the role of civil society, and=20
the increasing HIV epidemics in Papua New Guinea and = Indonesian=20 provinces of Papua and West Papua

HIV/AIDS has emerged as one of the greatest global threats to=20 development.

An estimated 33 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS = worldwide.=20 With five million of those people living in Asia and the Pacific, = the=20 epidemic remains a serious threat to the region.

Australia is committed to working with our neighbours to = achieve=20 Millennium Development Goal Six =E2=80=93 to combat HIV/AIDS and = work towards=20 universal access to HIV prevention, support, care and treatment by = 2010.=20

On World Health Day this year, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith = launched=20 Australia=E2=80=99s new international development strategy for = HIV,=20 Intensifying the Response: Halting the Spread of HIV. The = strategy prioritises:

intensifying HIV prevention=20
integrating HIV into sexual and reproductive health=20
building capacity for a scaled up response=20
developing a legal and policy environment that enables = effective HIV=20 responses=20
building an evidence-based response through research, and=20
fostering and demonstrating leadership on HIV

Australia has committed a total of $1 billion by 2010 in the = global=20 fight against HIV/AIDS.

More information:

Susilo= =20 Bambang Yudhoyono's speech to ICAAP [PDF 65kb]

Speech=20 by UNAIDS Director Michel Sidibe [PDF 47kb]

Australia=E2=80=99s=20 strategy for development assistance in HIV (Bilingual - = English and=20 Bahasa)[PDF 52kb]

HIV=20 Ambassadors=E2=80=99 Declaration on the Response to HIV and = AIDS [PDF=20 64kb]

Media=20 backgrounder on Australia=E2=80=99s work on HIV in Indonesia = [PDF 52kb]

ICAAP=20 website