Adolescents and HIV/AIDS in East Asia and the Pacific

Many countries across the region have developed plans to address HIV/AIDS among young people. Prevention education and provision of youth-friendly health services are already stipulated in national strategies. However, programmes for institutionalized capacity building and sectoral policies in health, education, welfare, labour and social justice that are all vital to implementing and supporting this strategy remain few and far between.

Interventions focused on the most highly vulnerable young people are often said to be the key to slowing or halting the epidemic. However, capacity is clearly inadequate in many countries, and includes an insufficient availability of human and financial resources, as well as a lack of systematic tracking for behavioural trends and risks. Furthermore, social attitudes towards those most at risk, - who are usually already marginalized and discriminated against because of their behaviours, - remain obstacles which hamper effective preventive measures.