A strategy to halt and reverse the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs in Asia and the Pacific 2010-2015

This report was written by WHO, UNAIDS, UNODC, Global Fund and ANPUD.

This regional strategy is a roadmap for Member States, civil society and development agencies on how to successfully address the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs in Asia and the Pacific. The strategy is designed to provide a regional framework, it identifies issues and priorities and provides guidance to countries in the region for developing national strategic responses over the next six years. It highlights the important link between halting the HIV epidemic and health and development, and will help countries achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goal 6 that calls for a halt and a reverse in the spread of HIV by 2015.

The strategy reinforces the need for expansion of needle and syringe programmes, wide availability of opioid substitution therapy and universal access to antiretroviral therapy. All of this must occur on a scale that can impact the epidemic. The strategy also addresses new challenges and the responses required to overcome them, including the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C co-infection and the need for evidence-based drug treatment for people who use methamphetamines. All the responses to these challenges should be guided by strategic information and grounded in the meaningful involvement of people who use drugs.