AIDS poses an unprecedented health and developmental threat the world over including Asia. Ever since it emerged in the early 1980s, it has been spreading rapidly across continents and devastating millions of lives. In the process it has stretched the health-care systems and wrecked the economies and social fabric of many societies. Developing countries, including those in Asia--which has the second highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS--are the most seriously affected. In Asian countries, the problem is compounded by the lack of awareness, poverty, and inadequate funds and infrastructur.