Thursday, October 05, 2006 UN, world health body to push 'no condom, no sex' policy
AS CASES of human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids) continue to increase globally, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will focus its efforts on the commercial sex industry and promote the use of condom.
In a joint meeting, the WHO and UNFPA said they will promote the "no condom, no sex" policy in the Western Pacific region particularly in countries where condom use is low.
"HIV/Aids prevention presents enormous challenges as it touches on some of society's most vulnerable people and some of the most difficult to reach," said Dr. Richard Nesbit, acting WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
He said while there have been several Aids success stories in terms of prevention, they still feel that they failed to stem the epidemic after more than 40 million people globally have been infected with HIV and about 25 million deaths were recorded at present.
In 2005 alone, he said there were over five million new HIV infections globally and three million deaths.
"However it is possible to turn the Aids epidemic around by preventing millions from becoming infected," said Nesbit.
Citing the case of Cambodia with an effective 100 percent condom use program in 2000, HIV infections there dropped by 80 percent since the peak of the epidemic while in Thailand, the rate of curable sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) dropped by 95 percent in the 1990s and in 2002, an estimated 5.7 million HIV infections had been averted, involving not only sex workers and their clients, but also large numbers of people at lower levels of risk.
The three-day meeting, which opened Wednesday, seeks to identify strategies for scaling up proven interventions, particularly condom use among sex workers and their clients. The meeting will also look into mobilization of resources and support needed from UNFPA, WHO and other stakeholders.
Nesbit said condom use program is being implemented in China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam. However, the coverage is limited.
He also said the Manila meeting seeks to develop a road map on strategies for nationwide expansion of the 100 percent condom use program in line with the goal of universal access to HIV/Aids prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.
The meeting is attended by decision-makers from the ministries of health from Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Guam, Indonesia, Kiribati, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Other participants include members of civil society, beneficiaries involved in the 100 percent condom use program, public security officials and the WHO. (MSN/Sunnex)
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