HIV Epidemiology
STIs in the Region
The prevalence of STIs in Western Pacific countries and territories varies significantly, but it is generally high. Several successes in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) e.g. Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Philippines and Viet Nam has been noted with decreasing STI as well as decreasing HIV rates and/or maintaining low levels of HIV prevalence. However, incidence of STIs among men having sex with men and sex workers continue to escalate in some countries. There are signs of resurgence of syphilis in some countries where syphilis has been considered controlled. Chlamydial rates among pregnant women in the Pacific Island countries remain high. Papua New Guinea continues to report high rates of STIs. A majority of countries still have limited data to assess the magnitude of the STI problem and inform programmatic interventions.
There are growing concerns of emergence of multi drug resistance to gonorrhoea including the last-line treatment, cephalosporin, which have implications in gonorrhoea control. Often antimicrobial resistance surveillance is insufficiently established or of poor quality in countries with high rates of disease.