A/HRC/4/110 page 7 development of specific materials targeting vulnerable groups including men who have sex with men and their wives, commercial sex workers, transgender persons, prisoners, migrants and youth (including a new website www.yquesexo.com). The Ministry of Health has identified the need to expand cooperation with NGOs in responding to the challenge of HIV/AIDS. The Government provided detailed information (including statistics) on its efforts to respond to HIV/AIDS, as well as details of the programmes of individual ministries. The National Council on Prevention of Discrimination is currently undertaking three studies relating to discrimination and HIV, focused on persons in detention, stigma in health services and discrimination by insurance companies against people living with HIV. 14. The Government of New Zealand provided information on a number of initiatives relevant to the concerns expressed in resolution 2005/84. In September 2005 the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, with new funding from the Ministry of Health, established the African Health Promotion Programme. This new programme is an adaptation and expansion of the already-existing Refugee Health Education Programme that has been working with refugee communities for some years, with the aim of preventing the spread of HIV and building support for those living with the virus. The programme was established to provide HIV/AIDS education and safer sex promotion; to promote voluntary HIV counselling and testing; to provide service providers working with African clients cultural support and information around sexual and reproductive health; and to provide initiatives to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma within the African refugee communities living in New Zealand. The Government reports that in March 2006 progressive implementation of the Universal Routine-Offer Antenatal HIV Screening Programme commenced. The implementation of the programme nationwide is expected to be completed before the end of the 2007/08 financial year. To date there has been a high uptake in testing, indicating that the HIV screen is acceptable to women. New Zealand acknowledges the progress that has been made over the past three years in mounting an effective response to HIV/AIDS in the Pacific region, which is the primary area of focus of New Zealand’s International Aid and Development Agency (NZAID) but stresses that there is much more that needs to be done particularly in mobilizing leadership across all levels and sectors of society. NZAID has allocated around NZ$ 19 million over three years for programmes to combat HIV/AIDS in the Pacific region. 15. In its response, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic referred to a number of activities undertaken by its Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, as well as the Ministry of Health. These activities include a focus on promoting awareness of HIV and its implications, with a particular emphasis on youth (especially in schools), women and those in detention and the media. The workshops involving individuals from groups vulnerable to infection have focused on prevention as well as reproductive health. Efforts are being made to ensure that voluntary counselling and testing services are available across the country, as well as access to free treatment (including access to medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV). 16. The Government of Thailand reported that, while references to human rights are not prominent in its 2002-2006 National AIDS Plan, implementation of the Plan has been carried out across the country as far as possible without discrimination. Prevention, treatment and care