Publications on Male Sex Workers (MSW)

On 1 February 2010, the Crimes Decree 2009 (Decree No. 44) of the Republic of Fiji Islands took effect. A report on sex work and HIV prevention in Fiji had very recently been released. UNAIDS Pacific funded the authors of that report to conduct follow-up research investigating any impacts of the new Decree on sex work and related HIV prevention activities. Thus, the original study was extended to encompass and take account of a changed legal environment. This report is the result.

This document summarizes that HIV prevalence is scarce, given the current state of rebuild of Afghanistan's health system. UNAIDS has eliminated that, as of 2008, HIV prevalence among the general population is below 0.5%.

This report is designed to strengthen Fiji’s response to HIV and AIDS. The aim of our study was to provide useful data about how Fijians think of and manage their risks of sexual transmission of HIV.

Askim na Save (Ask and Understand): People who sell and exchange sex in Port Moresby is a comprehensive bio-behavioural study of sex work in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

The findings in this report are in general very encouraging as it shows that the overall prevalence of HIV in populations most at risk remains below 1% and most importantly, HIV prevalence has declined among people who inject drugs in Dhaka from 7% to 5.3%. Moreover, hepatitis C has also decline which is a marker for unsafe injecting practices

The study focuses on laws and law enforcement practices affecting adults engaged in sex work. The study does not aim to map laws relating to children who are sexually exploited. Although the study considers the relevance of trafficking laws particularly as it affects adults voluntarily engaged in sex work, it does not map all trafficking legislation in detail.

After peaking at 3.2 percent in 1997, Cambodia's HIV prevalence among men and women aged 15 to 49 had dropped to 0.9 percent; it is expected to decline to approximately 0.6 percent by 2012 (Ministry of Health [MOH] 2007). HIV in Cambodia has evolved from a generalized epidemic to one concentrated among MARPs: men who are clients of sex workers as well as their spouses; people who inject drugs; male, female, and transgender sex workers, and MSM.

Myanmar has a population of 50 million people. The estimated nation‐wide population of sex workers in 2007 was between 40,000 and 80,000 and the population of their clients between 840,000 and 1,400,000

In China, HIV prevalence among the general population is 0.06%, with the number of infections continuing to increase. At the end of 2009, an estimated 740,000 adults and children were living with HIV (range 560,000‐920,000) and another 105,000 had AIDS.

Until recently, Pakistan was considered as a ‘low HIV prevalence, high risk country’ in relation to HIV. The country is now classified as having a concentrated epidemic, with an HIV prevalence of more than 5% among injecting drug users.