Responding to HIV/AIDS in the East Asia and Pacific Region: a strategy note for the World Bank

This paper outlines a strategic direction for the World Bank’s multisectoral response to HIV/AIDS in the East Asian and Pacific region. It describes the risk of a large-scale HIV/AIDS epidemic in the area and outlines what is being done to stop the growth of this epidemic, as well as what can be done at country and regional level. Lessons learned show that strong political commitment, leadership from the affected communities, and sophisticated surveillance systems contribute to a decline in high-risk behaviour. Other key factors have included national law reform to reduce discrimination and widely available voluntary counselling and testing.

The authors identify five key challenges which HIV programmes need to address. These include: political commitment and multisectoral support; public health surveillance, monitoring and evaluation; prevention; care, treatment and support; and health services delivery. The authors highlight the need for country specific strategies to address the diversity of issues within the region. Successful strategies need to incorporate: analytic and advisory work to support ongoing and planned programmes, as well as capacity building efforts; demand driven lending; knowledge sharing initiatives; and development of regional tools to be used by several countries in coordination with partners, analytic work, and other similar programmes. [adapted from author].