Jakarta- A rise in mobility within South-East Asia as people search for economic opportunity has made millions of people more vulnerable to HIV infection, a joint ASEAN-UN report issued Thursday said.

A country-by-country assessment of HIV and mobility in the 10 ASEAN-member countries revealed that despite their contributions to national economies, migrants have little or no right to legal or social protection and generally lack access to HIV/AIDS services and information.

HIV/AIDS and Mobility in South-East Asia, produced jointly by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations Regional Task Force on Mobility and HIV Vulnerability Reduction in South-East Asia and Southern Provinces of China (UNRTF), presents key findings and recommendations of a rapid assessment conducted on HIV and mobility issues in the 10 ASEAN member countries in 2007-2008.

It is the first such publication to include information on current migration patterns along with the HIV situation across the region.

"Migrant workers are a vital force to national economies in South-East Asia, yet when it comes to protecting their rights and ensuring HIV prevention and treatment, they are often among the forgotten," said Ajay Chhibber, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuan said the assessment "provides information that will be useful for policy makers, health givers and clinicians in ensuring that migrant workers and mobile populations are provided with high-quality prevention and treatment services."

Although comprehensive data on HIV prevalence among migrants in South-East Asia is unavailable, the report indicates that risk behaviour and HIV infection rates are considerably higher among migrants than in the general population.

In Thailand, where more comprehensive data exists, migrant fishermen showed HIV infection rates as high as 9 per cent, the report said. In the Philippines, 35 per cent of registered people living with HIV were returning migrants, as were 30 per cent in Laos.

"While migrants and their sexual partners are included as a vulnerable group in the national strategic plans of ASEAN countries, comprehensive programmes to address their needs have yet to be developed, funded and implemented," said JVR Prasada Rao, director of the UNAIDS regional support team in Asia and the Pacific.

In Thailand, registered migrants have access to health services with subsidized medical costs, but anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment is not included, and subsidized ARV treatment is not available to migrants in any destination country, it said.

Migrants found to be HIV-positive through routine testing in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, they are repatriated.

Countries of origin, especially Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam, have developed pre-departure training on HIV prevention for outbound, documented migrant workers.

Mandatory HIV testing in health examinations is required by most ASEAN destination countries, except Thailand. Such testing, says the report, breaches migrant rights, including confidentiality and consent. (dpa)