BMA poised to lower HIV infection by 90% in 2020

Vipaporn Pooritanasarn

 

 

BANGKOK, 30th March 2018 (NNT) - Health officials in Bangkok have met to discuss the situation in regard to HIV/AIDS in the capital city. 

 

The meeting, chaired by Deputy Governor of Bangkok Thaweesak Lertprapan, was held at the Asia Hotel in Ratchathewi district. Topics on the agenda included the role of the Communicable Disease Act B.E. 2558 (A.D. 2015) and the development of HIV/AIDS surveillance systems in hospitals. 

 

Mr. Thaweesak said the discussion was to encourage different health agencies in Bangkok to work out efficient disease control plans. The deputy governor of Bangkok disclosed the ongoing efforts to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS had yet to become comprehensive, allowing HIV infection to rise.

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration plans to reduce the number of new HIV-positive people by 90 percent within 2020. Since early this year, the number of people dying of the deadly virus has topped 3,000. The number of new HIV/AIDS patients has exceeded 77,000, more than 1,100 of whom are aged under 25.

 

 

-- nnt 2018-03-31

 

45 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

"Mr. Thaweesak said the discussion was to encourage different health agencies in Bangkok to work out efficient disease control plans. The deputy governor of Bangkok disclosed the ongoing efforts to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS had yet to become comprehensive, allowing HIV infection to rise."

 

A difficult subject, but a reduction by 90% within two years? These bureaucrats are living in another world.

 

How many decades ago was it that Mechai Viravaidya started to openly publicise this important subject by advocating condom use. He became known as Mr Condom within Thailand.

 

However, until the culture here starts to change and talk a lot openly about condom use, I can't see much changing soon.

At school the subject is an embarrassment for teachers to talk to kids about, so nothing is said. I know this through asking my fourteen-year-old son about it.

 

edit: Link to a TED talk on the subject by Mechai, he speaks excellent English btw:  https://www.ted.com/talks/mechai_viravaidya_how_mr_condom_made_thailand_a_better_place#t-181558

 

Edited March 31, 20188 yr by bluesofa

45 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration plans to reduce the number of new HIV-positive people by 90 percent within 2020.

And I plan to become a billionaire by 2020......

Another press conference without content....Not a word about how to achieve the goal....

14 minutes ago, JOC said:

And I plan to become a billionaire by 2020......

Another press conference without content....Not a word about how to achieve the goal....

Now that's bringing happiness to the people. 

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration plans to reduce the number of new HIV-positive people by 90 percent within 2020.

I'm sure they believe what they predict, because they will use all the experience they achieved in overwhelming procedures to assure road safety.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

BMA poised to lower HIV infection by 90% in 2020

 

I suspect this cunning plan involves sandbags and boat propellors.

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, JOC said:

And I plan to become a billionaire by 2020......

Another press conference without content....Not a word about how to achieve the goal....

Just talk about lowering it and it happens,  don't you know anything ?

Delusional Thailand

6 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Just talk about lowering it and it happens,  don't you know anything ?

same principle as ''build it and they will come''...

1 hour ago, JOC said:

And I plan to become a billionaire by 2020......

Another press conference without content....Not a word about how to achieve the goal....

True.

I'd suggest they talk to Mechai Viravaidya about this. He's the one who has vast experience about managing the matter. I'm sure he would be willing to help again.

Watching the TED talk clip, I hadn't realised just how much was done to bring awareness to the population's attention nationwide. I can't believe how much has slipped from the public's memory.

 

There's now a new generation who have never heard of Mechai. I think the campaign needs starting again from scratch.

I noticed Mechai said they got the condom message into schools. As I said in my previous post, from what I can see, that has been completely forgotten.

 

Edited March 31, 20188 yr by bluesofa

more than 400,000 people in Thailand are HIV+. 70,000 new people have been added to this list. They must be talking about reducing the next 70,000 new ones to 7,000 new ones by 2020. 

 

Its just nonsense but just like the rabies scare was nonsense this reduction of HIV+ is nonsense. This tells you that someone important is ordering this to their subordinates. No way that anyone would volunteer to say these kind of things with a straight face without a threatening order

With the junta so desperate to join the TPP trade agreements, it seems highly u likely they will be able to reduce infection rates. The big pharma insists on patent enforcement on HIV drugs and the currently available affordable generic HIV meds will be gone (as will generic versions of many other persecution drugs). 

High priced drugs = high rates of infection due to untreated poor. Thailand can not afford to subsidize the treatment of it’s people with high priced HIV drugs. Thailand can not afford TPP. The junta seems to be dead set about “oh oh us too,we want in”  in regards to the TPP, but does not seem to realize the  net impact down the road. Their rush to be included int the trad pact is shortsighted and harmful to Thailand. 

Australia has the best results in lowering HIV infection. HCV is also a problem along with HBV. 

 

The thing with HIV and the new drugs developed is that you will live for a long time. 

 

HCV has some new drugs out to cure this disease but not sure on Hep B?

Who put that 0 there ?????.

Sent from my SM-P901 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

4 hours ago, JOC said:

And I plan to become a billionaire by 2020......

 

No. You are poised to become a billionaire by 2020.

5 hours ago, bluesofa said:

 

A difficult subject, but a reduction by 90% within two years? These bureaucrats are living in another world.

 

 

It'll take em at least two more years just to decide who to place on the committees that will need to be formed to come up with the plans for the committees that will be tasked with coming up with the plans for reducing HIV/AIDS by 2020...  And then by around 2120, if Bangkok is still above water, they might actually end up adopting some plan.

 

Edited March 31, 20188 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

Ain't gonna happen soon ,,, sure not  in 2 years    maybe 20 ?

The answer to this like all STIs and unwanted pregnancies is reduction by education.

 

Until the Government and educators push the message of effective prevention by condom use, the problem will only get worse. 

 

Knowledge of this subject is far below Western countries, and hampered by embarrassment/face factors preventing the spread of the message. The only things that are spreading are the infections.

Edited March 31, 20188 yr by Classic Ray

They must have a plan up their sleeves which is most likely making PrEP much more widely available and free to certain groups. Starting Pattaya

Well, until the gay community pulls their head out of the sand, it is expected to rise significantly. Those 1100 are most likely to be gay males, that will spread their seed to another 3000 young gay males. 

They told my son at school that hiv is passed from mother to baby and that's how you get it. 

4 hours ago, d2b2 said:

With the junta so desperate to join the TPP trade agreements, it seems highly u likely they will be able to reduce infection rates. The big pharma insists on patent enforcement on HIV drugs and the currently available affordable generic HIV meds will be gone (as will generic versions of many other persecution drugs). 

High priced drugs = high rates of infection due to untreated poor. Thailand can not afford to subsidize the treatment of it’s people with high priced HIV drugs. Thailand can not afford TPP. The junta seems to be dead set about “oh oh us too,we want in”  in regards to the TPP, but does not seem to realize the  net impact down the road. Their rush to be included int the trad pact is shortsighted and harmful to Thailand. 

Your statement on the availability of generic drugs is  factually incorrect. Many of the drugs have been off patent for some time.  More specifically, the cost results from countries like Canada and the UK where there are government purchasing schemes is that generics do not deliver on the cost savings promised. This was highlighted by  a study published in the NE  Journal of Medicine identifying the false assumptions. It stated that  generic lamivudine instead of emtricitabine would be no cheaper for government programmes if prescribing raltegravir (Isentress) and tenofovir/emtricitabine (Truvada) or tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (Descovy), owing to the discount on branded drugs given to these programmes.  This is nothing new. In the UK and Canada the government programs have fixed the prices both  proprietary and generic manufacturers can charge.  Thailand can  set the price on  the drugs.

 

 

I am shocked by the data  statement release from the BMA. 3000 in the past two months is a crisis. The  annual total for Thailand was been reported as declining at sub 20,000. If the BMA is showing  a rate of roughly 18,000 per annum then the addition of hot spots of Chiang Rai ,Phuket, Rayong and Chonburi would double that.

 

77,000 new cases in the BMA? The last number released for  all of Thailand was 7,800 new cases with 121 kids.

 

Either there is an error in reporting or Thailand is in the midst of a massive,  full blown HIV epidemic.  77,000 new cases in Bangkok alone is sufficient to idemand a quarantine.

 

I can't believe that the BMA is reporting this.

90% reduction. Ya right. Idiots. Nuff said.

7 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

I am shocked by the data  statement release from the BMA. 3000 in the past two months is a crisis. The  annual total for Thailand was been reported as declining at sub 20,000. If the BMA is showing  a rate of roughly 18,000 per annum then the addition of hot spots of Chiang Rai ,Phuket, Rayong and Chonburi would double that.

 

77,000 new cases in the BMA? The last number released for  all of Thailand was 7,800 new cases with 121 kids.

 

Either there is an error in reporting or Thailand is in the midst of a massive,  full blown HIV epidemic.  77,000 new cases in Bangkok alone is sufficient to idemand a quarantine.

 

I can't believe that the BMA is reporting this.

 

No... The numbers aren't adding up at all. A quick search yields documents indicating that the infection rate was either 6,400 or 7,700 cases in 2016, nationwide. Whether the 77,000 number refers only to Bangkok or is nationwide is ambiguous in the reporting, but it's not believable in either case. Another problem relates to the statement that 1,100 of the new cases are in people age 25 and under. Internationally, that age group appears to have the highest or nearly highest growth rate of infection. Even if the number of new cases reported was actually 7,700 instead of 77,000, the statement that only 1,100 of those new cases are age 25 and below is implausible.

 

I would say wait for new and more accurate numbers to be reported, but that is unlikely to happen.

 

 

Edited March 31, 20188 yr by RedQualia

12 hours ago, greenchair said:

They told my son at school that hiv is passed from mother to baby and that's how you get it. 

Depending on your son's age, this might be the only part he understood, or they may have skirted over the details. Mother to child is undoubtedly the saddest of all the ways it can be transmitted. 

20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The number of new HIV/AIDS patients has exceeded 77,000

I wonder if the BMA had some help from TAT with the numbers

On 3/31/2018 at 7:26 PM, scubascuba3 said:

They must have a plan up their sleeves

They'll just ban it, like with the street food. 

Im poised to start calling this place baldrickland.

So many cunning plans without the ability to even get them started, little own such pie in the sky numbers.. 

I think there is a major translation problem here. Most likely the '90%' number is referring to the UN/AIDS Fast Track Target to end AIDS by 2030. The goal for 2020 is to have 90% of people tested, 90% of people on medication, and 90% with undetectable viral loads. I think that is what was being discussed. As for 77k new infections last year, that is quite a jump from the 6k in 2016 and I do think there would have been some discussion in the media about this. Possibly a typo? Maybe 7.7K?