Regional meeting on AIDS in Bangkok
Governments of countries across the Asia-Pacific region will meet in Bangkok during February 6-8 for high-level talks on how to speed up regional action to meet international commitments on AIDS.
Hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the event is geared towards the global vision of getting to zero HIV-related infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths.
Some 200 Ministers, including top government leaders and senior officials from across Ministries of health, justice, law enforcement, social development and drug control agencies will join civil society, including people living with HIV and most affected by HIV, to address legal and policy barriers that impede access to HIV services in the
region.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Miniter Kittiratt Na-Ranong will be one of the speakers on the first day.
The Asia-Pacific region has made significant progress on AIDS, with infection rates falling by 20 per cent across the region in the last 10 years, and with over one million people accessing life-saving antiretroviral treatment. But the region continues to face important challenges to progress with epidemics in some countries still increasing and emerging, treatment access rates lagging behind global averages and low levels of services reaching populations most at risk of HIV infection, ESCAP said.
