HIV Policy Analysis, Research, and Training

The East-West Center conducts an active program of policy analysis, research and training on HIV with a focus on Asian-Pacific epidemics. Center researchers Tim Brown, Wiwat Peerapatanapokin, Jiajian Chen, MInja Kim Choe, and Peter Xenos work closely with national partners in almost every country in Asia and with colleagues from other regional and international agencies, including the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Health Organization (WHO), Family Health International (FHI), the Health Policy Initiative and the Futures Institute. Every year, Center training activities involve 50 or more regional counterparts who are actively working to address HIV in their home countries and organizations

Work focuses in three project areas:

Analysis and Advocacy—the A² Project. Active in four countries, the A² Project promotes an inclusive and collaborative approach to conducting HIV policy analysis and effectively translating analysis into policies and programs that produce effective responses. National counterparts in Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Vietnam have formed A² teams of HIV specialists who work with local HIV partners to gather data, use it to build models of the local HIV situation, develop policy scenarios that explore the costs and impact of alternative responses, and then use this information as the basis for actively promoting improved responses. The project has played a contributing role to adopting a national prevention goal in Thailand, refocusing the HIV action plan for maximum impact in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, adopting programs for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Yunnan and Guangxi, China, and focusing attention on at-risk populations in Bangladesh. In the next year or two, the project will explore the possibility of expanding to Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal. Support for the A² project comes from USAID and Family Health International’s Asia-Pacific Division (FHI APD).
Tools for modeling and policy analysis—the Asian Epidemic Model (AEM) and the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package (EPP). The East-West Center produces the two models of the HIV epidemic most commonly used both globally and in Asia. The Asian Epidemic Model, patterned after the HIV situation common to most Asian countries, allows countries to build locally tuned models that accurately represent their situation. Through links to the GOALS model, developed by the Futures Institute, AEM can be used to conduct policy analyses that explore the impact of program choices and resource allocations. The East-West Center is developing the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package under the guidance of the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimation and Projection. EPP plays an essential role in preparing global estimates of HIV. It is used in almost all African countries for estimation and projection and is increasingly applied in countries with low-level and concentrated epidemics, such as those in Asia and Latin America. Support for development of these two models has been provided by a number of partners including UNAIDS, FHI APD, WHO, the World Bank and others.
Training to build effective national and regional responses. The East-West Center provides training on analyzing HIV policy, conducting HIV-related behavioral studies, especially for youth, improving national responses through analysis and advocacy, and other areas of topical interest. Workshops are held both in Honolulu and in regional or national settings depending on the specific goals of each training activity. Recent workshops have included: an AEM Update Training for A² Teams; From Analysis to Action: Improving HIV Responses in Asia; Regional Trainings on Policy Analysis with AEM; and support for the UNAIDS Regional Trainings on Estimation and Projection for the Asia-Pacific Region.

In addition to these three project areas, the Center provides technical support to HIV estimation, projection, and analysis activities across Asia and the Pacific, regularly working with many national programs in the region.

Related publications

Chen, Jiajian, Minja Kim Choe, Shengli Chen, and Shikun Zhang. 2007. The effects of individual- and community-level knowledge, beliefs, and fear on stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS in China. AIDS Care 19(5): 666-73.

Brown, Tim. 2006. HIV/AIDS in Hong Kong: Living on the edge. Hong Kong: Red Ribbon Centre-UNAIDS Collaborating Centre for Technical Support, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health. Downloadable at http://www.info.gov.hk/aids/pdf/g175.pdf.

Brown Tim, N. Grassly, G. Garnett, and K. Stanecki. 2006. Improving projections at the country level—the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package. Sexually Transmitted Infections 82(Supplement III): iii34-40.

Gouws E., P. White, J. Stover, and Tim Brown. 2006. Short-term estimates of HIV incidence by mode of transmission: Kenya and Thailand as examples. Sexually Transmitted Infections 82(Supplement III): iii51-ii55.

Brown, Tim and Werasit Sittitrai. 2005. Making the right choices—protecting Asian-Pacific children and youth from HIV. In G. Foster, J. Williamson, and C. Levine, eds. A Generation at risk: The global impact of AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chen, Jiajian, Minja Kim Choe, Shengli Chen, and Shikun Zhang. 2005. Community environment and HIV/AIDS-related stigma in China. AIDS Education and Prevention 17(1): 1-11.

Diaz, T., Kevin De Cock, Tim Brown, Peter D. Ghys, and J. Ties Boerma. 2005. New strategies for HIV surveillance in resource-constrained settings: An overview. AIDS 19(Supplement 2): S1-8.<

Pervilhac, C., J. Stover, E. Pisani, Tim Brown, R. Mayorga, O. Mugurungi, M. Shaukat, F. Lu, and P. Ghys. 2005. Using HIV surveillance data: Recent experiences and avenues for the future. AIDS 19 (Supplement 2): S53-S58.

Brown, Tim. 2004. Tackling the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Asia.Asia-Pacific Population & Policy No. 68 (January 2004). Honolulu: East-West Center.

Brown, Tim. 2004. The generation game: How HIV affects young people in Asia. In Elizabeth Pisani and Hein Marais, eds. AIDS in Asia: Face the facts: A comprehensive analysis of the AIDS epidemics in Asia. Bangkok: Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network.

Brown, Tim. 2004. What next? Epidemic dynamics in the Asian context. In Elizabeth Pisani and Hein Marais, eds. AIDS in Asia: Face the facts: A comprehensive analysis of the AIDS epidemics in Asia. Bangkok: Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic (MAP) Network.

Brown, Tim and W. Peerapatanapokin. 2004.The Asian Epidemic Model: A process model for exploring HIV policy and program alternatives in Asia. Sexually Transmitted Infections 80(Supplement 1): i19-i24.

Chen Shengli, Zhang Shikun, and Sidney B. Westley. 2004. HIV/AIDS awareness is improving in China. Asia-Pacific Population & Policy No. 69 (April 2004). Honolulu: East-West Center.

Ghys, P., Tim Brown. N. C. Grassly, G. Garnett, K. A. Stanecki, J. Stover, and N. Walker. 2004. The UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package: A software package to estimate and project national HIV epidemics. Sexually Transmitted Infections 80(Supplement 1): i5-i9.

Grassly, N., M. Morgan, N. Walker, G. Garnett, K. Stanecki, J. Stover, Tim Brown, and P. Ghys. 2004. Uncertainty in estimates of HIV/AIDS: The estimation and application of plausibility bounds. Sexually Transmitted Infections 80(Supplement 1): i31-i38.

Mills, S., T. Saidel, R. Magnani, and Tim Brown. 2004. Surveillance and modeling of HIV, STI and risk behaviours in concentrated HIV epidemics. Sexually Transmitted Infections 80(Supplement II): ii57-ii62.

Ruxrungtham, K., Tim Brown, and P. Phanuphak. 2004. AIDS in Asia. Lancet 364:69-82.