There is an estimated 37.9 million (32.7 million – 44.0 million) people living with HIV globally in 2018. Close to 18% of these persons, or 5.9 million (5.1 million – 7.1 million) live in the Asia and the Pacific region, making the region home to the second largest HIV burden after Africa. Mirroring the global trend, the Asia-Pacific region continues to make gains, but the gains are declining year-on-year. While there is an overall declining trend in the annual number of new HIV infections since 2010, the pace of decline has slowed down. If the current pace of decline in new infections is not intensified and more people living with HIV are not engaged and retained in treatment for viral load suppression and prevention of onward transmission, the region could be headed for a resurgence of the epidemic. A pressing need for accelerated responses at global, regional, and national levels to outpace the epidemic has become imperative, more than ever. This brief is part of ARROW’s State of the Region Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+25), developed as a result of monitoring of 25 years of implementing the ICPD Programme of Action in the region by ARROW and our partners.
