HIV prevalence among key populations compared with adults ( aged 15 – 49 years ), reporting countries in Asia and the Pacific , 2018-2022
20 18 16 14
Per cent
12 10 8 6 4
4.7
4.2 3.9
|
2
0
|
1.1
Sex workers ( n = 15 )
|
Gay men and other men who have sex with men ( n = 16 ) |
People who inject drugs ( n = 11 ) |
Transgender people ( n = 9 ) |
0.9
People in prisons ( n = 11 )
|
0.2
Adults ( aged 15 – 49 years )
|
How to read ? Upper Extreme
Upper Quartile
Mean Median
Lower Quartile Whisker
Lower Extreme
The median HIV prevalence among countries that reported these data in Asia Pacific was :
1.1 % among sex workers . 4.7 % among gay men and other men who have sex with men . 4.2 % among people who inject drugs . 3.9 % among transgender people . 0.9 % among people in prisons .
The estimated HIV prevalence among adults ( aged 15 – 49 years ) is . 0.2 % [ 0.2 – 0.3 %]
Sources : UNAIDS Global AIDS Monitoring , 2023 ; UNAIDS epidemiological estimates , 2023 ( https :// aidsinfo . unaids . org /). Notes : n = number of countries . Total number of reporting countries = 42 .
indicate greater uncertainty regarding the estimate .
Similarly , Dr Iskandar said that some healthcare workers were not fully supportive of the free provision of HIV prevention medications implemented in the country ’ s public health facilities , which primarily targets men who have sex with men , because they disagreed with their lifestyle .
But greater access to preventive medicine will be key if the country wants to stop the spread of the disease . Certain antiretroviral medications have been shown to prevent HIV infection if taken before exposure to HI� occurs through sexual contact or drug use . This approach is called pre-exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP ) and can reduce the risk of getting HI� from sex by about �� percent and from intravenous drug use by at least 74 percent , according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
“ This is where the judgemental attitudes of healthcare professionals can potentially impede and prevent access to health and life saving medications for people who need it , � he said . �The Achilles ’ heel of all this is stigma and discrimination . In Malaysia , there are laws that criminalise same sex behaviours and sex work , while transgender women feel it ’ s not safe for them to go out as women . So as long as we have those laws in place we are not going to be able to end AIDS . �
A similar warning was highlighted last year by then-
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