Ikegami briefly explained the activities that PLACE (positive living and care environment) Tokyo carries out for HIV positive people, as well for those with STIs.

She said that originally PLACE had attempted to integrate HIV/AIDS with RH, but had met resistance from various organizations in Japan, such as women’s groups.

HIV/AIDS was, she said, at a critical phase in Japan. 90% of HIV infections were in men, with 60% being among gay or bisexual men. Although only 10% of infections were in women, these women were at the height of their reproductive years, and the ‘femininization’ of HIV infections was rapidly rising.

Ikegami stated that schools in Japan are failing to deliver good sexuality education since, for example, an education board decides that young people under 16 do not need it as sexual relations under that age are not supposed to happen. This was, she said, similar to 'abstinence only' campaigns, which are seen not to work, so there was a lack of information for adolescent SRH in Japan.

There was, Ikegami explained, an urgent need for comprehensive education, and boys must be taught to change their behavior to practicing safer sex, as there were gender issues such as girls finding it difficult to ask for condom use.

Collaboration with the RH community would help provide proper sexuality education to young people. Furthermore, 90% of pregnant women in Japan are tested for HIV (2004), but there is little in the way of counseling before the test, or for those who test positive.

If an HIV positive woman wants to give birth, collaboration with the RH community would be valuable, Ikegami said, emphasizing that prevention of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies are both issues of sexual health.