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The South-East Asia Region is home to between 3.4 and 5.6 million injecting drug users. A large proportion of them resort to unsafe injecting practices such as sharing of needles and syringes. This has led to the rapid and large-scale transmission of HIV and hepatitis C in this population and their partners.
In order to prevent new infections, countries need to urgently expand the implementation of evidence-based drug treatment interventions. Opioid substitution therapy (OST) is the most useful and cost-effective intervention for managing opioid dependence and reducing the harms associated with it.
OST is now available in India, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal, and will soon be introduced in the Maldives and Bangladesh. These practical guidelines aim to assist physicians and drug treatment professionals in establishing and delivering evidence-based, good quality, effective OST services in South-East Asia.
Successful scaling-up of antiretroviral therapy requires the rational use of antiretroviral drugs. This manual provides guidance and information in a practical and user-friendly format, using tables and figures, accompanied by limited text and provides recommendations based on evidence from clinical trials, observational cohort data and expert opinion.
CD4 T lymphocytes enumeration is essential for initiation of antiretroviral therapy for a person with HIV as well as for monitoring the response to treatment. The techniques for enumeration of CD4 T lymphocytes are evolving. The flow cytometry continues to be the gold standards of CD4 T lymphocytes enumeration in spite of the fact that the technology is expensive both in terms of initial investment in sophisticated equipment and running cost. The newer techniques may be economical to procure and maintain. The latter are particularly intended for countries with limited resources. Guidelines on use of various techniques, the selection of technology, procurement of equipment and their maintenance; ensuring continuous supply and economical use of reagents and biosafety in laboratory have been discussed in this document whi9ch is intended for poly makers to establish the laboratory services and for technologists to perform the tests.
This publication gives an overview of HIV and laboratories relevant to South-East Asia. Key information on the strategies. algorithms and methodologies for diagnosis of HIV infection, as well as virological, microbiological and immunological monitoring of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is provided. Information on the laboratory monitoring of side effects of ART and about new technologies in HIV diagnosis and ART monitoring is given. Recommendations for laboratory infrastructure and quality systems are made.
A programme review is a systematic assessment of the National AIDS Programme, including its relevant and adequacy. It helps countries to assess the achievements of the NAP in the health sector, and provides recommendations for improving strategies and interventions. It also helps to develop multisectoral partnerships in planning and coordinating the response to HIV/AIDS. These guidelines will help review teams to carry out the different components of a programme review. They can be used as a stand-alone instrument to evaluation / review the health sector in particular, or for broader multisectoral reviews.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a signatory to the Code of Good Practice for NGOs Responding to HIV/AIDS, established in 2004 to address the large numbers and a great diversity of NGOs working in HIV/AIDS as a result of the scale and complexity of the global pandemic.