News Release

Agreement Signed on HIV/AIDS Campaign in Greater Mekong Subregion

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (7 March 2003) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) today signed an agreement to launch an information and communication technology (ICT) campaign for the prevention of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).

The project, backed by a US$1 million ADB technical assistance (TA) grant, aims to address three major factors contributing to the spread of AIDS in the subregion - high-risk behavior, trafficking in girls and women, and drug abuse among highland minorities.

The total cost of the project is about US$1.85 million. SEAMEO and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will provide co-financing of US$431,000 and US$317,000, respectively.

About US$100,000 equivalent will come from the five participating countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, People's Republic of China (Yunnan Province), Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Signing today's agreement in Manila were Rajat M. Nag, Director General of ADB's Mekong Department, and Dr. Arif Sadiman, Director of the SEAMEO Secretariat. Education ministers and representatives from the five GMS countries, and UNESCO also attended the ceremony held at the closing of the 38th SEAMEO Council Conference.

The project will train around 200 teachers, health workers and multimedia providers in preventive education.

Learning materials will be developed at provincial resource centers in local languages to ensure that they are appropriate to local conditions.

About 8,000 school-age youths (aged 13-24) will be targeted in high-risk cross border areas of the GMS, as well as out-of-school youths and other at-risk groups, including truck drivers and sex workers.

High-tech media as well as radio and audiotapes will be used to target communities.

The radio broadcasts will consist of soap operas with themes relevant to the lives of highland girls and young women and their families. They will include drama and music in local languages.

As GMS countries have opened up their borders to tourism and trade, the increased cross-border movement has hastened the spread of drug abuse, human trafficking, and HIV/AIDS.

Cambodia and Thailand are among the top 10 countries in Asia with the high HIV-AIDS prevalence rates, while Viet Nam has high HIV infection rates among users of injected drugs and sex workers.

About 21 million out of the GMS population of 240 million belong to ethnic minorities. Lack of access to education and health care, a rise in drug abuse, and vulnerability to trafficking and the sex trade have left women from ethnic minorities especially at risk of HIV/AIDS.

The TA is expected to take about 18 months, ending around August 2004.

More at adb.org/media

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