Asia Regional HIV/AIDS Project

Objectives:

This project aims to strengthen the capacity of both the health and public security sectors of governments to reduce transmission of HIV among injecting drug users (IDU) and the HIV related harm associated with injecting drug use in Myanmar, China and Vietnam.

In China, the project works in Yunnan and Guangxi, with four effective approaches projects in Yunnan and six in Guangxi. These sites aimed to gain lessons regarding implementation approaches and provide evidence to support harm reduction. The project has provided advocacy, awareness and training for senior officials, health and public security officers.

Australian Contribution: A$15.8 million

Duration: 2002-2007

Location: Myanmar, Vietnam and China(Yunnan and Guangxi)

Project Components:

Component 1-Institutional capacity building
Component 2-Expanding effective approaches
Component 3-Regional cooperation

Planned outcomes:

To strengthen the capacity of governments and communities to reduce the HIV related harm associated with injecting drug use.

Achievements:

Bringing together police and health workers from 12 regional countries to share experience in harm reduction and learn about good practice approaches
Encouraging police to combat HIV transmission and work with drug users through the incorporation of Effective Approaches to Injecting Drug Use & HIV Prevention into the training curricula of regional police academies
Assisting with the development of the Vietnam Government's National Harm Reduction Action Plan;
A reduction in the rate of injecting drug users sharing injecting equipment in the ARHP's pilot sites, down from 38 per cent to 15 per cent in one Chinese site
Training staff and inmates in HIV prevention in mandatory detention centres and prisons; o Publishing and distributing HIV Harm Reduction training and awareness-raising materials, guidelines and general information into Chinese, Burmese, Vietnamese and English.

Managing Contractor: ACIL Australia Pty Ltd

AusAID Contact:

Linna Cai
Senior Program Officer
No 21, Dong Zhi Men Wai Dajie, Beijing, PRC
Tel: +86-10 5140 4404
Fax: +86-10 5140 4199
E-mail: linna.cai@dfat.gov.au

May 2008