Introduction: Meeting the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Southeast and East Asia

Out of a total of 38 million people living with HIV/AIDS globally today, the Asia-Pacific is home to about 7.4 million - a figure which constitutes a sharp rise to previous years. In absolute numbers, infections in Asia are projected to exceed African figures within a decade. This has largely to do with economic changes towards market-based capitalism, widening socioeconomic disparities and increased levels of mobility (internal and cross-border), as for instance in China and Indonesia. Overall, the epidemic in Asia has been described as more complex than in Africa involving a multiplicity of transmission modes. The case studies presented in the contributions to this special issue discuss the connections between issues of mobility, gender, (trans)nationalism and sexuality in understanding the HIV/AIDS challenge in the region. The various ways in meeting the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Southeast and East Asia areanalysed, whereby non-governmental and community-based responses often emerge as more effective than state interventions.