Comprehensive, up-to-date information on HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and policy from the University of California San Francisco

The Asian epidemic is largely stable. In all of Asia, including Southern Asia, an estimated 4.9 million [4.5 million-5.5 million] people were living with HIV in 2009, about the same as five years earlier. Most national HIV epidemics appear to have stabilized. No country in the region has a generalized epidemic. Thailand is the only country in this region in which the prevalence is close to 1%, and its epidemic appears to be stable overall. A resurgent epidemic in the late 1990s (when up to 60,000 people were becoming newly infected annually) has since receded. The adult HIV prevalence was 1.3% [0.8%-1.4%] in 2009, and the HIV incidence had slowed to 0.1%.

There were 360,000 [300,000-430,000] people newly infected with HIV in 2009, 20% lower than the 450,000 [410,000-500,000] in 2001. Incidence fell by more than 25% in Nepal between 2001 and 2009.

Epidemic patterns vary between and within countries. The overall trends in this region hide important variation in the epidemics, both between and within countries. In most of them, the epidemics appear stable. In many countries in the region, national epidemics are concentrated in a relatively small number of provinces. In China, five provinces account for just over half (53%) of the people living with HIV. Asia's epidemics remain concentrated largely among people who inject drugs, sex workers and their clients, and men who have sex with men. Incidence patterns can vary considerably in large countries.