HIV/AIDS and young people in provincial China and Thailand: global aspirations, local responses

This paper presents the findings from an empirical study into the impact of HIV/AIDS1 at municipal community level in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Kunming and Ruilin in China’s Yunnan Province.* The study focuses upon young people as a Most-At-Risk-Population (MARP). The purpose of this study is two-fold. Firstly, following from global expressions of concern over the risks of HIV/AIDS to yound people, this study seeks to establish, empirically, the impact of HIV/AIDS on young people and the communities in which they live. In doing so, the study seeks to go beyond assumptions that the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS have largely been met by the sustained intervention programmes directed to these two communities over many years. Secondly, to identify the continuing challenges being faced; identify and evaluate the character and quality of the policy-making response; and to indicate those aspects of policy requiring further development.