Our Mission Statement
Overview of HIV/AIDS Situation in Lao PDR
National Response on HIV/AIDS in Lao PDR
UNAIDS in Lao PDR
Contact Persons
Links to HQ Main Website
News
November 07, 2008: “HIV at a glance Lao PDR” fact sheet available for download.
August 20, 2008: Lao PDR’s GFATM Round 8 proposal – key HIV component documents available for download.
Lao PDR submitted a proposal for HIV and health system strengthening funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Round 8.
For further information, please contact the CCM secretariat.
Our Mission Statement
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, was established in 1996 as an innovative joint venture of the United Nations family. It brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to help the world prevent new HIV infections, care for those already infected, and mitigate the impact of the epidemic. Based in Geneva, the UNAIDS secretariat works on the ground in more than 80 countries world wide.
The aim of UNAIDS is to help mount and support an expanded response – one that engages the efforts of many sectors and partners from government and civil society. UNAIDS is committed to strengthening support to nationally owned and led responses, and to assist in ensuring better coordination among its partners in the UN system, governments, civil society, donors, the private sector and others.
Cosponsors of UNAIDS include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. To ensure countries receive the best technical support in specialized areas, and to avoid duplication, a ‘division of labour’ between the Cosponsor organizations guides the technical support offered.
UNAIDS has five focus areas for a more effective global response to AIDS:
- Mobilizing leadership and advocacy for effective action on the epidemic
- Providing strategic information and policies to guide efforts in the AIDS response worldwide
- Tracking, monitoring and evaluation of the epidemic - the world’s leading resource for AIDS-related epidemiological data and analysis
- Engaging civil society and developing partnerships
- Mobilizing financial, human and technical resources to support an effective response
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Overview of HIV/AIDS Situation in Lao PDR
Overall, the Lao PDR remains a low prevalence country with an estimated 0.2% HIV seroprevalence in the adult population. The first HIV positive case was reported in 1990 and the first case of AIDS in 1992. At the end of 2007, the official cumulative number of people identified with HIV was 2,630, of whom 1,675 were known to be living with AIDS (among these, 881 were under ARV treatment). 57% of reported HIV cases were male and 43% female. Based on cumulative HIV case reports, more than 77% of those infected are between the ages of 20 and 39 years. Of those whose mode of transmission was known, main mode was through heterosexual sex (85%).
While the officially reported HIV cases show an expected “underreporting” bias, one fact is remarkable: the number of reported AIDS cases and AIDS deaths is much higher than the estimated number of AIDS based on a prevalence of 0.2%. This suggests that either a group with a relatively high HIV prevalence was not captured in the surveillance, and/or that the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Lao PDR started much earlier than assumed.
Although HIV prevalence remains low, there is evidence of an expanding epidemic among the most vulnerable groups, especially sex workers and their clients, and men who have sex with men (MSM). The main determinants of HIV transmission in Lao PDR are increasing numbers of sex workers and clients, MSM, high prevalence of STIs, and increasing behaviours that are likely to involve HIV transmission such as increased number of multiple sexual partners, low condom use, and poor health seeking behaviour. As a recent phenomenon, injecting drug use is increasing and there is growing concern that it may further accelerate the epidemic in Lao PDR.
As reiterated in several reports, low levels of awareness, limited access to prevention and protection, including condoms, heighten the risk of rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Lao PDR. Other factors such as the low socio -economic status of women, high levels of poverty and a widening generation gap compound the risk of spread of the disease. Increased population mobility, internal and external labour migration and changes in lifestyles and sexual behaviour are all important ingredients for an accelerated spread of the epidemic.
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National Response on HIV/AIDS in Lao PDR
The overarching goal for the Lao PDR in HIV is to scale -up towards universal access for prevention, treatment, care and support. Lao PRD started early to address the specific needs of vulnerable groups and has set clearly defined priorities and targets in its National Strategy and Action Plan 2006 – 2010 (NSAP). The NSAP serves as the overall framework for interventions on HIV/AIDS/STI. The targets are regularly revised, and the costed action plan forms the basis for resource mobilization in the country.
HIV and AIDS were included as a priority area in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, known as National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) in Lao PDR in 2004. In 2006 the NGPES was fully integrated into the National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006-2010, introducing the national AIDS program as a priority program in the country.
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UNAIDS in Lao PDR
UNAIDS operates in the Lao PDR through the Joint UN Team on AIDS, in which all UN agencies and organizations are represented. Main tasks of the Joint Team include joint programming in support of the national response, effective coordination and technical support.
Currently the Joint UN Team on AIDS is in the process of finalizing a Joint UN Programme of Support to AIDS (JUPSA) for the Lao PDR. The JUPSA operationalizes the HIV-related outputs of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2007 - 2011, agreed between the Lao Government and UN, and serves as a collective articulation of all UN actions to support the national response towards universal access in the Lao PDR.
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Contact Persons
Mr. Pascal Steiner
UNAIDS Country Coordinator
P.O. Box 345, Lane Xang Avenue
UNAIDS
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Tel:(856 21) 267795
Fax: (856 21) 267799
Email: steinerp@unaids.org
Dr. Khamlay Manivong
National Country Programme Advisor
P.O. Box 345, Lane Xang Avenue
UNAIDS
Vientiane, Lao PDR
Tel:(856 21) 267796
Fax:(856 21) 267799
Email: manivongk@unaids.org / khamlay.manivong@undp.org
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Links to HQ Main Website
http://www.unaids.org
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