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MANILA, PHILIPPINES (17 August 2005) - ADB will help reduce the vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of ethnic minorities living in border areas of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), through a technical assistance (TA) grant approved for US$700,000.

The grant, from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund financed by the Government of the United Kingdom, will contribute to the subregion's efforts in achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

To be carried out specifically in border areas of Cambodia, Yunnan Province of the People's Republic of China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Thailand, the TA will devise communication strategies to inform vulnerable and high-risk populations about HIV/AIDS prevention.

It will also support greater subregional cooperation among the GMS countries for preventing HIV/AIDS, and monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the communication strategies.

Of the subregion's estimated 255 million people, about 75 million belong to 200 ethnic minority groups, which are typically concentrated in remote mountainous areas. They are at special risk of HIV/AIDS due to their remoteness, poverty, and lack of access to health, education, and culturally appropriate information.

"The rate of HIV infection among ethnic minorities is increasing faster than among the general population," says Anupma Jain, an ADB Social Sector Specialist. "While their physical isolation has in the past offered some protection, it has also limited their access to preventive education programs and campaigns."

Increased drug use, especially among injecting drug users, has also aggravated the spread of HIV/AIDS in the GMS, while easy access to illicit drugs encourages other high-risk behavior. For example, in Yunnan Province, about 21% of female injecting drug users also engage in commercial sex work.

"A key approach to reducing HIV transmission among drug users is through communication efforts that aim to change their behavior and practices," Ms. Jain adds.

The TA builds on a grant project approved in 2002 to promote use of information and communications technology (ICT) systems and multimedia materials in HIV/AIDS preventive education in border areas of the GMS. Under this, innovative approaches for information dissemination on HIV/AIDS in local languages were developed, for example through the popular medium of radio soap operas. It also created an Internet-based clearinghouse facility to help consolidate information on preventive HIV/AIDS education for the Mekong border regions and carried out a geographic information system exercise (GIS) in Thailand.

The new TA will develop and broadcast four new radio dramas in Thailand, PRC's Yunnan Province, and Lao PDR. Audiotapes will be produced for local health workers to follow up on awareness activities and for village heads where radio broadcasting is not practical. It will also undertake pilot broadcasting in low resource settings among smaller ethnic minority groups.

ICT activities also will be expanded to include GIS vulnerability mapping for Cambodia and the Lao PDR, and possibly digital radio broadcasts via satellite.

The total cost of the TA is about $1.22 million, of which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will provide cofinancing of about $522,000. Participating countries will contribute in-kind such as through the use of radio station facilities and airtime, data sets, and staff. Work on the TA will be carried out over two years to July 2007.

The GMS Program began in 1992 to promote closer regional economic ties and cooperation among the countries sharing the Mekong River. It is composed of Cambodia, People's Republic of China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Established in July 2002, the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund is a $75 million grant facility from the Department for International Development (DFID) of the Government of the United Kingdom. The fund aims to help ADB reduce structural poverty in its developing member countries.

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