Phuket 'Number 3' In Thailand For AIDS

[webfact]

Phuket 'Number 3' in Thailand for AIDS

Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch of the Phuket Public Health Office describes

the latest HIV/AIDS statistics as 'shocking'. Photo: Warisa Temram

PHUKET: -- Phuket has the third-highest reported incidence per capita of HIV/AIDS in Thailand, with Patong having one of the highest concentrations of people in the province contracting the virus, the Health Office has revealed.

“The current statistics for HIV/AIDS-infected patients in Phuket is quite shocking,” Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch, Deputy Director of the Phuket Public Health Office, told a recent meeting of high-level health officials.

“We have 4,022 people in Phuket with HIV/AIDS: 2,687 are male and 1,335 are female,” Dr Wiwat said.

Payao and Chantaburi are the only two provinces in the Kingdom with more, he added.

Within Phuket, the areas with the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS were Patong, Kathu, Rassada and Phuket Town.

“The age range of people with HIV/AIDS in Phuket is 25 to 40 years old. Ninety-three per cent of them were infected through unprotected sex, many through having sex with a random partner,” said Dr Wiawat.

A further three per cent contracted the anti-immunodeficiency virus by sharing needles when using drugs, he added.

Most of the cases reported to the Phuket Health Office were daily-wage laborers.

The recent meeting was called to develop a campaign to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS in Phuket.

First on the agenda is a public-awareness campaign.

“The Health Office will launch a campaign so people understand the significance of the problem. Practicing safe sex and not having sex with random partners will be part of the campaign,” he said.

People already suffering from HIV will be given access to anti-retroviral medication, he added.

“We have always been working to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, but the latest statistics indicate that we need to do more.

“HIV/AIDS is one of the big problems in Thailand. We will do anything to reduce the rate of new infected cases,” Dr Wiwat added.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=11018

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-09-23

[kjun12]

This article may be accurate but Phuket is #1 in trashy tuk tuk and taxi driving thieves.

[boggle]

Do not have sex with daily wage labourers.

[Nisa]

The age range of people with HIV/AIDS in Phuket is 25 to 40 years old

So, if you have sex with people outside this age range in Phuket you will not get HIV ?!?

[Arkady]

“We have 4,022 people in Phuket with HIV/AIDS: 2,687 are male and 1,335 are female,” Dr Wiwat said.

.....Ninety-three per cent of them were infected through unprotected sex, many through having sex with a random partner,” said Dr Wiawat.

A further three per cent contracted the anti-immunodeficiency virus by sharing needles when using drugs, he added.

Most of the cases reported to the Phuket Health Office were daily-wage laborers."

The ratio of males to females seems surprising, if 93% of infections were through unprotected sex. Since it is supposed to be easier for females to catch HIV through unprotected sex, one would expect the male to female ratio to the be the other way round. I wonder, if males are reluctant to admit intravenous drug use for fear of arrest, or if females are more reluctant to present for treatment at all. I would suspect both to be true, particularly the latter, i.e. that the number of females is actually higher than the number of males. It is not clear how the balance of 4% of cases are believed to have contracted the disease. Anyway, these stats look highly unreliable and are probably vastly understated.

[Atoosa07]

I would not have thought Chanthaburi up their with Phuket

[loseless]

"We have 4,022 people in Phuket with HIV/AIDS: 2,687 are male and 1,335 are female," Dr Wiwat said.

.....Ninety-three per cent of them were infected through unprotected sex, many through having sex with a random partner," said Dr Wiawat.

A further three per cent contracted the anti-immunodeficiency virus by sharing needles when using drugs, he added.

Most of the cases reported to the Phuket Health Office were daily-wage laborers."

The ratio of males to females seems surprising, if 93% of infections were through unprotected sex. Since it is supposed to be easier for females to catch HIV through unprotected sex, one would expect the male to female ratio to the be the other way round. I wonder, if males are reluctant to admit intravenous drug use for fear of arrest, or if females are more reluctant to present for treatment at all. I would suspect both to be true, particularly the latter, i.e. that the number of females is actually higher than the number of males. It is not clear how the balance of 4% of cases are believed to have contracted the disease. Anyway, these stats look highly unreliable and are probably vastly understated.

Perhaps the ratio is due to the amount of infections through gay sex. Male/male = very dangerous, but female/female = 100% safe.

[jimbeam1]

I wonder how many tourists take it home with them as a souvenir.

jb1

[Nisa]

Perhaps the ratio is due to the amount of infections through gay sex. Male/male = very dangerous, but female/female = 100% safe.

There is no doubt in my mind the the vast majority of males contracted it through unprotected homosexual sex .... any yes, it is much harder for a male to get aids through hetrosexual sex.

[organic]

Had to look Payao up, never heard of it before. Wonder what makes it no. 1 in terms of HIV?

[Boater]

Had to look Payao up, never heard of it before. Wonder what makes it no. 1 in terms of HIV?

maybe all the old hookers go there to die?

[Tanaka]

Another official report based on facts. Like everytime.

[tigermonkey]

"We have 4,022 people in Phuket with HIV/AIDS: 2,687 are male and 1,335 are female," Dr Wiwat said.

.....Ninety-three per cent of them were infected through unprotected sex, many through having sex with a random partner," said Dr Wiawat.

A further three per cent contracted the anti-immunodeficiency virus by sharing needles when using drugs, he added.

Most of the cases reported to the Phuket Health Office were daily-wage laborers."

The ratio of males to females seems surprising, if 93% of infections were through unprotected sex. Since it is supposed to be easier for females to catch HIV through unprotected sex, one would expect the male to female ratio to the be the other way round. I wonder, if males are reluctant to admit intravenous drug use for fear of arrest, or if females are more reluctant to present for treatment at all. I would suspect both to be true, particularly the latter, i.e. that the number of females is actually higher than the number of males. It is not clear how the balance of 4% of cases are believed to have contracted the disease. Anyway, these stats look highly unreliable and are probably vastly understated.

Perhaps the ratio is due to the amount of infections through gay sex. Male/male = very dangerous, but female/female = 100% safe.

You are 100 % WRONG !!! I have personally treated a number of HIV infected femaies who had sex only with other females ( lesbian). It is a popular myth that HIV can not be transmitted through oral sex ---- but it can be transmitted from both male and female sexual organs to another's mouth.

Any exchange of any form of bodily fluids/secretions ( blood, semen, miscellaneous secretions) from an HIV infected individual can infect another individual, and the entry point for the virus can be any place that there is a minor lesion, such as in the mouth.

Don't believe the myth.

Edited September 23, 2011 by tigermonkey

[tigermonkey]

"We have 4,022 people in Phuket with HIV/AIDS: 2,687 are male and 1,335 are female," Dr Wiwat said.

.....Ninety-three per cent of them were infected through unprotected sex, many through having sex with a random partner," said Dr Wiawat.

A further three per cent contracted the anti-immunodeficiency virus by sharing needles when using drugs, he added.

Most of the cases reported to the Phuket Health Office were daily-wage laborers."

The ratio of males to females seems surprising, if 93% of infections were through unprotected sex. Since it is supposed to be easier for females to catch HIV through unprotected sex, one would expect the male to female ratio to the be the other way round. I wonder, if males are reluctant to admit intravenous drug use for fear of arrest, or if females are more reluctant to present for treatment at all. I would suspect both to be true, particularly the latter, i.e. that the number of females is actually higher than the number of males. It is not clear how the balance of 4% of cases are believed to have contracted the disease. Anyway, these stats look highly unreliable and are probably vastly understated.

I doubt that the stats are unreliable , but they certainly do cause the situation to be " vastly understated".

The reported cases are, no doubt, the results of patients developing AIDS symptoms and being reported by their doctor, and also of the detection of HIV during blood screening, when a patient is in hospital, especially for surgery. All other cases of HIV would remain undetected and unreported.

Given that males are several ttimes more likely to develop AIDS from HIV infection than females, the stats will immeduately be very misleading, since they are not reporting HIV infection but AIDS.

The other 4 % ? -- well I won't go into the quality of blood transplant screening or other porcedures in the Kingdom --- some places are very good and some could not care less,and it has no relationship to urban or rural settings.

Edited September 23, 2011 by tigermonkey

[philhal2]

"We have 4,022 people in Phuket with HIV/AIDS: 2,687 are male and 1,335 are female," Dr Wiwat said.

.....Ninety-three per cent of them were infected through unprotected sex, many through having sex with a random partner," said Dr Wiawat.

A further three per cent contracted the anti-immunodeficiency virus by sharing needles when using drugs, he added.

Most of the cases reported to the Phuket Health Office were daily-wage laborers."

The ratio of males to females seems surprising, if 93% of infections were through unprotected sex. Since it is supposed to be easier for females to catch HIV through unprotected sex, one would expect the male to female ratio to the be the other way round. I wonder, if males are reluctant to admit intravenous drug use for fear of arrest, or if females are more reluctant to present for treatment at all. I would suspect both to be true, particularly the latter, i.e. that the number of females is actually higher than the number of males. It is not clear how the balance of 4% of cases are believed to have contracted the disease. Anyway, these stats look highly unreliable and are probably vastly understated.

I Guess your just not in the age group that witnessed the homosexual spread of this terrible disease about 40 years ago . Girlfriends and wives who had bi-sexual partners often only found out when they were handed their official death sentence by the medicos . Yes I am one of the so called Homophobics who often made homosexuals the " butt " of the jokes and despised them as well . No I havent changed my attitude because now I am seeing the results of the laws that were made to stop people discriminating against homosexuals and or people with AIDS .and no I dont make any apology about my attitude but would like to see the military and the Gay communities who started this wildfire disease accept some responsibility and do a lot more to help and protect kids from getting or inheriting this disease .

but looking at all the topics from HIV to lack of education , the end result is no one gives a dam_n and no one accepts any responsiblity to the future generations .

[wellred]

With the girls so willing to bareback and condom use non existent with thai men this isn't exactly surprising.

[Nisa]

With the girls so willing to bareback and condom use non existent with thai men this isn't exactly surprising.

How many Thai men have you had sex with to allow you to make such a broad statement?

[Valentine]

I wonder how many people in Phuket are HIV+. I think AIDS is defined when blood counts drop to certain levels in HIV+ people. If the article is correct in that they are only providing statistics for AIDS then there is probably at least 10 times that amount who are HIV+ many of whom will not even be aware they are infected.

[Nisa]

I wonder how many people in Phuket are HIV+. I think AIDS is defined when blood counts drop to certain levels in HIV+ people. If the article is correct in that they are only providing statistics for AIDS then there is probably at least 10 times that amount who are HIV+ many of whom will not even be aware they are infected.

The article says they are talking about HIV / AIDS. But I think it is also clear that these are just the people they are either treating or have tested positive. I would guess that the total (including unreported cases) would be about 50% higher using logic/statistics they use in the US combined with the fact more people likely go to the doctor in Phuket than the US.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that at the end of 2008, there were

682,668

people living with a diagnosis of HIV infection in the 40 states (10 states unreported) and five U.S. dependent areas. However, the total number of people living with an HIV infection in the U.S. is thought to be more than one million.

¹

²

http://www.avert.org...-statistics.htm

[Nisa]

You are 100 % WRONG !!! I have personally treated a number of HIV infected femaies who had sex only with other females ( lesbian). It is a popular myth that HIV can not be transmitted through oral sex ---- but it can be transmitted from both male and female sexual organs to another's mouth.

Any exchange of any form of bodily fluids/secretions ( blood, semen, miscellaneous secretions) from an HIV infected individual can infect another individual, and the entry point for the virus can be any place that there is a minor lesion, such as in the mouth.

Don't believe the myth.

While is certainly may be possible .. it is rare for a lesbian to contract HIV through homosexual sex with another female.

Only 11% of men contacted HIV through hetrosexual contact (I bet 1/2 are lying too) while 66% of women contracted it through hetrosexual contact.

Lesbian sex isn't even listed and would fall somewhere in that 2% that make up everything from being passed on by a pregnant mother to blood transfusion and so on.

At most it would seem they make up 1% of female cases and much of this may be to do with the fact a lesbian would fall into one of the least risk effected groups as well as the fact it is difficult to transmit aids through the mouth or finger unless you have a cut or open sore.

http://www.avert.org...-statistics.htm

[sezze]

I've looked it up years ago when i witnessed somebody suffer and eventually die from HIV/Aids . The vast majority and by far biggest risk for HIV is unprotected anal sex ( when talking about sex , not sharing needles or something like that ) . There is no difference for male or female as long as it is anal sex . Females also have bigger risk then males with "normal" sex , due to the act itself ( woman receiving party ) . Males can get HIV by normal heterosexual sex ( as in vaginal ) but the chances are much slimmer ( although not non-existant ) . Female to female without sharing toys or blood exchange is non existant or very very close to it .

So :

- anal sex , male or female is dangerous ( the homosexual factor is obvious )

- vaginal sex is more dangerous for woman and a lot less for man

- oral sex or lesbian sex chances are very slim .

This is all without extra bonus factors . Extra factors are circumcised man , STD's ( many many have chlamydia without knowing ) , ...

[BigC]

Do not have sex with daily wage labourers.

why was the sex industry not included or is it taboo to talk about that as it might put people off going to Phuket ?????

[KRS1]

If you must have unprotected sex, always urinate afterwards. But make sure you get out of the bed first and not into your partner.

eg: go to the toilet.