Background
The UNAIDS[1]
2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic[2]
offers a sobering assessment of national — and international
— level responses to the AIDS pandemic. Africa remains the
global epicentre of the pandemic. But the report reveals worrying
new trends in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which together
have the fastest growing rate of HIV in the world. It also notes
significant new epidemics in Asia, whose high populations mean
even low rates of HIV infection translate to large numbers of
infected people. The UNAIDS Report highlights the links between
these emerging epidemics and 'marginalised' groups, which it terms
the "four key populations": sex workers, men who have
sex with men, injecting drug users and prisoners, groups which
it is argued are 'driving' many general epidemics.[3]
For the purposes of this Report, these four 'marginalised'
groups are treated as distinct from 'vulnerable' groups such as
women, children, young and older people. Although some of the
evidence we received identified these latter groups as marginalised,
they are not perceived to be 'driving' epidemics but rather are
groups on which the pandemic has a significant impact.
1 Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Back
2
May 2006 Back
3
'Driving' refers to the idea that people who engage in high risk
behaviours are more likely to contract the virus if they come
into contact with it, and if they have it are more likely to pass
it on into low risk groups such as spouses and children as well
as within the high risk groups. Back
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