Govt to try to reduce HIV infection rate by half

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday that his government would try to reduce the HIV infection rate by half and try to have no more than 5,016 new infection cases in 2011.

Abhisit was speaking to reporters after chairing the meeting of the government committee on Aids prevention. The meeting was attended by Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Doctor Prat Boonyawongwiroj and permanent secretaries from other ministries concerned.

Abhisit said the government would step up measures to try to reduce the new infection rate during the next two years.

It will step up awareness campaigns on Aids and promote the use of condoms.

The government will also come up with specific measures for specific groups which are under risks of contracting HIV, such as intravenous drug users, sex workers, homosexuals and economic migrants.

-- The Nation 2009-07-24

Long overdue, by a year. Thanks should go to groups like WHO for its firm warning, the Thai public health workers who stuck their necks out and put the careers on the line 6 months ago with their public warnings, and of course the foreign health agencies in Germany, Sweden, Norway, UK and the USA that raised the alarm after seeing a large increase in he infection rates of their nationals following visits to Thailand.

Nice lofty goal set by the gov't but unless the health outreach workers are put back on the streets, the sex worker surveillance system reinforced and supported and money put into prevention education it will be empty words along the lines of a crackdown on touts at ole swampy.

The government will also come up with specific measures for specific groups which are under risks of contracting HIV, such as intravenous drug users, sex workers, homosexuals and economic migrants.

Specific measures? There was an efficient approach a decade ago. What's wrong with continuing that strategy? The biggest spike in cases has been with adolescents. The emphasis needs to be on them. They are the future workers of Thailand and have been neglected for too long.

Unless the government is willing to provide the support for the health workers tasked to test the sex workers those poor souls will be run off and threatened by bar owners. I'll believe it when I see the MoH folks accompanied by real police officials visit some of the bars in Pattaya and Patong where infected sex workers and intervene.

If you think swine flu has turned people off of a visit, wait until you see some of the HIV infection rate indications. There is always a delay in reporting numbers but from what I can make out on the trend lines, Thailand is going to make Lesotho and South Africa seem safe by comparison unless something is done now.

Well, here we go again. How are they going to fund this, though? If they had simply kept the same programs in place that were previously effective and kept funding them, they wouldn't have to decide to set them up again!!!

Wow, first I read it as infection-rate of the country, not the spreading of it, meaning they would make sure people had more kids or kill off half the ones being infected...or just stop them from having access to drugs to accelerate it.

My mistake.

Isn't the answer obvious?

Just state the truth!

Should see a 50 - 90% drop overnight.

Failing this, well come on enough is enough; unprotected anal sex and hard drug use are lethal combos!