India, China and Pakistan are among the 10 countries that accounted for more than 95 per cent of all new HIV infections in the Asia and the Pacific region in 2016, according to a UN report.
Scales have tipped for the first time in the fight against AIDS as more than half of all people living with the HIV virus now have access to treatment, while AIDS-related deaths have nearly halved since 2005, said the report by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, 'Ending AIDS: Progress towards the 90-90-90 targets'.
In the Asia and the Pacific region, the majority of new infections are occurring in 10 countries led by India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietmnam, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
These 10 countries together accounted for more than 95 per cent of all new HIV infections in the region in 2016.The report gives a comprehensive analysis of the 2014 targets to accelerate progress so that by 2020, 90 per cent of all HIV-infected people know their status, 90 per cent of all HIV-diagnosed people are accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) and 90 per cent of those taking ART are virally suppressed.
The region's HIV epidemic remains largely concentrated among key populations, including sex workers and their clients, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, and transgender people.
The annual number of new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific has declined 13 per cent over the last six years, from 310,000 in 2010 to 270,000 in 2016.
The report added that in India, a respondent-driven sampling survey across 26 cities found that knowledge of HIV status was 41 per cent among people living with HIV who inject drugs.
Of those who knew their HIV status, only 52 per cent were accessing antiretroviral therapy and 83 per cent of those accessing treatment were virally suppressed (55).