Rising HIV infections put the Western Pacific on alert

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific and UNAIDS Asia-Pacific have convened a range of stakeholders here to confront the Region's HIV crisis amid growing national epidemics. Held during the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific and at the request of the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, today's high-level event brought together ministers of health from the 38 countries and areas of the Western Pacific Region, as well as civil society and development partners, to seek solutions to accelerate progress on HIV prevention.

Three countries in particular have seen sharp increases in recent years, with implications for national and regional health security.

• In Fiji, new infections have increased tenfold over the past decade, including a huge spike in 2024. Injecting drug use has been identified as a major factor, with potential spillover of infections to other Pacific island countries.
• From 2010 to 2024, new infections rose roughly sixfold in the Philippines, with young men who have sex with men most affected.
• This June, the Government of Papua New Guinea declared HIV a national crisis in response to rising infections among women of reproductive age and children.

Alongside gaps in prevention, responses in these countries - as in many parts of the Region - have been undermined by late diagnosis and insufficient treatment coverage and access. However, with strengthened political leadership and support from development partners, the countries are working to diagnose HIV earlier, and expand coverage of antiretroviral treatment and targeted prevention services, including harm reduction and new long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Together, these approaches help reduce transmission and avoid new infections.

"HIV is not 'over' as the situation across the Western Pacific clearly shows," said Dr Saia Ma'u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. "We need strategic and targeted approaches to prevention, testing and treatment that are tailored to specific outbreaks and affected populations."

"More than 40 years into the global HIV response, we know what we need to do," he added. "Now is the time to act - urgently and together."

The urgent need for a more effective response was echoed by Eamonn Murphy, Regional Director of UNAIDS Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

"The investments we make in HIV services for the most marginalized populations ultimately also ensure the health of the wider community," explained Mr Murphy. "What we urgently need now is political will and shared responsibility to target investments toward the right interventions for the right people in the right locations. Conversations are also needed about the right of all people to health, dignity and a life free from stigma and discrimination."

Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Viet Nam demonstrate that strong results are achieved when HIV programmes combine evidence-based prevention strategies with universal access to antiretroviral treatment.

The dialogue concluded with a call for action on the following priorities:

• Keep HIV high on national agendas through political will.
• Expand harm reduction for people who inject drugs and ensure early diagnosis and treatment.
• HIV in primary health care and finance the response under universal health coverage.
• Tackle stigma and discrimination, which remain significant obstacles to testing, access to essential services and adherence to treatment.
• Invest in community-led programmes to ensure optimal outreach and greater impact.
• Leverage "treatment as prevention", understanding that people living with HIV who achieve an undetectable viral load through treatment have zero chance of passing on HIV through sex.
• Roll out and scale up PrEP, including long-acting options.

"Complacency is simply not an option," Dr Piukala said. "I commend Fiji and other Member States for recognizing the enormity of the challenge and reaching out for support. WHO and UNAIDS will partner to do all they can to assist Member States at this crucial juncture in the Region's HIV narrative."

"There is no time to waste."

-ENDS-

NOTE TO EDITORS:

• New long-acting PrEP options protect people from contracting HIV with just two injections a year.
• The Sustainable Development Goal target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is at risk in several of the Western Pacific countries due to an insufficient focus on preventing new infections.
• Every three minutes someone in the Region acquires HIV.
• In 2024, there were an estimated 164 000 new infections.
• Since 2010, new infections in the Western Pacific declined by only 11%, far slower than the 40% global average.
• Epidemic dynamics differ, but a shared pattern is sexual transmission among key populations - men who have sex with men, people in prisons and other closed settings, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people.

A regional summary and data are available here.

For more information and to arrange media interviews, contact:

Roy Wadia: [email protected] +63 918 915 7260

Cedriann Martin: [email protected] +66 26680 4120