9th International Congress on AIDS to Take Place in Asia

Nusa Dua, Bali: U.N. agencies, legal experts and human rights defenders at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) concur that crafting an effective AIDS response in the region will require addressing legal barriers that are impeding progress, according to a press release issued by EurekAlert.

Throughout the week, scientists, legal experts, activists, people living with HIV and community representatives will discuss challenges and progress in addressing legal barriers to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010 , Hindu reports.

“We are only able to reach out to 500 people with HIV/AIDS in Bali. There are many more out there,” said Putu Ayu Utami Dewi, director of Bali Plus, a support organization assisting people with HIV and AIDS.
Established in l994, Bali Plus works with eight groups including the transgender community, a gay community, commercial sex workers, a family support group and others across six regencies in Bali ,Jakarta Post reports.

"We need to target men who engage in paid sex, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, who can transmit the virus to their partners," Jean D'Cunha, regional director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women in South Asia, told a news conference held on the margins of an HIV/AIDS conference in Bali ,Reuters India reports.