The role of non-formal education in combating the HIV epidemic in the Philippines and Taiwan

The Philippines is experiencing a low but slowly growing prevalence of HIV, with a UN estimate of 6,000-11,000 cases out of a population of 9 1 million, and a 150% increase in new cases in 2008 compared to previous years. Earlier education programmes employed non-formal educational training techniques in the southern Philippines to target high-risk gro ups such as female sex workers and their establi shment managers; the effo rt was ex panded to target males in the co mmunity. In comparison, as of 2009, Taiwan has an estimated 40,000 cases of HIV/AIDS in a population of 23 million. It ex perienced a major increase in HIV infection among injec ting drug users, from 77 newly reported cases in 2003 to 2,38 1 such cases in 2007. Thi s article comp ares and contrasts the response to the epidemic in each country, describing non-formal educational programm es targeted and tailored to specific high-risk populations.