The Report of the Commission rests on a solid foundation of evidence, and it presents clear findings and firm recommendations for reversing the spread of HIV in Asia.

It outlines an approach for making maximum use of resources and capacities, and it sketches the details of a response that can curb and eventually halt Asia's AIDS epidemics.

The Report is therefore addressed to everyone with a stake and interest in vanquishing the AIDS pandemic in Asia.

The next step of this challenge is to disseminate and engage with these findings, and to translate the recommendations into practice. The Commission cannot achieve that on its own.

It is essential to provide a strategy for taking these insights and proposals forward on different fronts and with various stakeholders — Governments, donors, multilateral agencies, civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, activist groups, public health practitioners, and more.

To start with, people from all walks of life who care about a healthy and disease-free Asia should have access to this Report, in a language they feel comfortable with. Key findings and recommendations of the Commission should therefore be available in the major languages of the region.

What Governments can do

It is vital that Governments in the region adopt this Report and act on its recommendations.

A great deal of effort is needed to remove the dangerous complacency about AIDS that still exists in Asia. These epidemics may pivot on certain high-risk behaviours, but they are not limited to the persons who practice those behaviours. The evidence shows clearly that HIV does not obey the boundaries people try to erect between themselves and stigmatized groups.

Understanding this, though, is not enough. Asia's leaders must act against AIDS. This Report highlights the approaches and methods that have been shown to work—and that are affordable.

The Commission urges the Governments of Asia to use the Report as a strategic resource and high-level advocacy tool for galvanizing commitment and sketching an implementation strategy that can take the recommendations forward.

We appeal to Heads of Governments to lead the way in that regard.

National AIDS Commissions could be charged with conducting a detailed review of the Report, and with developing an implementation plan that can be synthesized with their national strategies in order to fulfil global commitments like Universal Access by 2010 and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Such a plan would assign responsibilities across various sectors and departments, and clearly pinpoint accountability.

What regional organizations can do

The Report presents several recommendations which have transnational implications.

The regional intergovernmental bodies such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have key roles in mobilizing political commitment for a coordinated and long-term AIDS response in the region.

These bodies are uniquely placed to translate those recommendations into regional action programmes. Summits and other gatherings can serve as platforms for monitoring their implementation.

What civil society and community organizations can do

The Report has great relevance for the meaningful participation of community-based organizations and other civil society groupings in national AIDS responses.

The Commission suggests that national and regional networks of affected communities should not wait on Government to act on the Recommendations of this Report, but need to step forward themselves.

They should review, disseminate and debate the findings and recommendations of this Report among their members. And they should use the Report to press Governments and other stakeholders into action—especially on matters that relate to community and civil society involvement in the AIDS response.

What donors and UN agencies working in Asia can do

The Report presents a pragmatic assessment of the resource needs for a comprehensive and sustainable HIV response. It also reviews the current mix of funding (domestic versus external) and proposes ways to achieve a more effective funding balance.

The Commission appeals to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), and other important donors to examine the resource needs provided in the Report in relation to their medium- and long-term funding decisions for AIDS programmes in Asia.

Policymaking bodies such as the Boards of the Global Fund, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank can serve as important platforms for engaging with some of the key recommendations of the Report.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific Commission (UNESCAP) should consider adopting this Report as part of its AIDS agenda, and can monitor the implementation of key recommendations.

What UNAIDS can do

UNAIDS has a major stake—and responsibility—in taking the Report's recommendations further. In addition to the Programme Coordination Board of UNAIDS, the various management boards of UNAIDS cosponsors have the opportunity to discuss the Commission's findings and recommendations, and identify roles for their agencies in their implementation.

The Commission believes that UNAIDS in Asia should assume a coordinating and monitoring role in relation to the Report's recommendations, and that it should provide regular feedback to all stakeholders on progress in implementing them.

The UNAIDS Secretariat could prepare a more detailed dissemination and implementation strategy which would map opportunities in the region—including events, media channels and key opinion leaders—for publicizing the Report.

An implementation strategy should slot into national planning procedures, and should translate the recommendations into components of national AIDS plans.

The UNAIDS secretariat and co-sponsors would need to work closely with Governments, communities and donors to achieve all this.

The Commission believes that this Report can mark a watershed in Asia's battle against AIDS—if the opportunities and recommendations highlighted in it are used to the full.

That challenge now rests in the hands of everyone who wishes to see an Asia free of AIDS.