A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted in Kathmandu district, Nepal, to find out the relationship between utilization of counseling-testing visit for voluntary counseling and testing service and socio-economic characteristics of people, and to measure their knowledge about HIV infection and AIDS. The survey was conducted in both of urban and rural area of Kathmandu district, participants aged 15-49 years were randomly selected from the general as well as target population to be interviewed. Descriptive analysis, graphical presentation and three regression model analysis and estimated from OLS method, Hypothesis testing for statistical significance as of result interpretation were used to describe the association between selected variables as requirement of research objectives. A total of two hundred eighty people were interviewed. The prevalence of knowledge about HIV/AIDS of people was 85% ranging from 47% to 98%.People with gender, ethnicity in urban area had higher knowledge about HIV/AIDS, There were differences between male and female in terms of educational level, income and utilization of counseling -testing visit for VCT service. Income ranged from Rs 2000.00 to Rs 50,000.00 with the mean was Rs 10,385.72.Knowledge about HIV/AIDS was important factor affecting utilization of counseling-testing visit for VCT service with positive impact or in other word knowledge about HIV/AIDS could increase utilization of counseling-testing service for VCT. Educational level was the most important characteristics of individual affecting to knowledge about HIV/AIDS with high sensitivity. There was a disparity between urban and rural area in term of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and utilization of counseling-testing service for VCT. Individual income also had very important role for improvement the knowledge about HIV/AIDS of people. Utilization of counseling-testing service for VCT is an important basis to expand VCT service in Kathmandu district. Association between individual socioeconomic characteristics and knowledge about HIV/AIDS may be a basis for implementing intervention programs efficiently according to characteristic of individual.

HIV is the leading cause of premature death in Thailand. Since the first case of AIDS was reported in 1984 more than one million Thais have been infected. The social, human and economic costs of this burden are enormous. The Thai government has shown a strong commitment to providing care and support to persons living with HIV/AIDS by launching the National Access to Care Program (NAPHA) in 2003, which provides for publicly financed antiretroviral therapy (ART) to all HIV-infected people. This book documents through interviews how ART has radically changed the lives of those living with HIV. In the words of an HIV positive 29-year old man, ART is a "miracle." The book then develops an innovative analytical framework and uses it to show how the future sustainability and cost-effectiveness of this ambitious program depend critically on Thai government choices of AIDS treatment policy, HIV prevention policy and AIDS drug pricing. For the most likely assumptions, the book estimates that ART will save years of healthy life at a cost of between $700 and $2,400 per year. Successful AIDS treatment accumulates ever-increasing numbers of patients who need subsidized ART. Despite the magnitude of the resulting fiscal burden, the authors judge this expenditure to be a worthwhile public health investment for Thailand, However, they show that the future sustainability of the program will hinge critically on how well the government manages the quality of ART service delivery, on whether it is able to sustain its past successes in HIV prevention and on its negotiations with multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers on the prices of new AIDS drugs.

This first English language book on China’s AIDS epidemic provides a picture of the current state of the epidemic, a social science and interdisciplinary perspective on gaps in the response, and a blueprint for needed actions. The book’s editors are leading experts on China’s AIDS epidemic, health and political systems. Contributors comprise some of the world’s leading Chinese and international researchers, policy-makers, and civil society representatives working on HIV/AIDS in China. The multi-disciplinary work provides a critically needed social science perspective and analysis of the epidemic, offers a framework for thinking about the spread of HIV in China, and includes suggestions for an effective policy response that also addresses social determinants.

While there have always been norms and customs around the use of drugs, explicit public policies--regulations, taxes, and prohibitions--designed to control drug abuse are a more recent phenomenon. Those policies sometimes have terrible side-effects: most prominently the development of criminal enterprises dealing in forbidden (or untaxed) drugs and the use of the profits of drug-dealing to finance insurgency and terrorism. Neither a drug-free world nor a world of free drugs seems to be on offer, leaving citizens and officials to face the age-old problem: What are we going to do about drugs? In Drugs and Drug Policy, three noted authorities survey the subject with exceptional clarity, in this addition to the acclaimed series, What Everyone Needs to Know®. They begin, by defining "drugs," examining how they work in the brain, discussing the nature of addiction, and exploring the damage they do to users. The book moves on to policy, answering questions about legalization, the role of criminal prohibitions, and the relative legal tolerance for alcohol and tobacco. The authors then dissect the illicit trade, from street dealers to the flow of money to the effect of catching kingpins, and show the precise nature of the relationship between drugs and crime. They examine treatment, both its effectiveness and the role of public policy, and discuss the beneficial effects of some abusable substances. Finally they move outward to look at the role of drugs in our foreign policy, their relationship to terrorism, and the ugly politics that surround the issue. Crisp, clear, and comprehensive, this is a handy and up-to-date overview of one of the most pressing topics in today's world. What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.

Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.