Sex Tourism To Thailand And Indonesia Driving Rise In HIV Cases

[webfact]

Sex tourism to Thailand and Indonesia driving rise in HIV cases

BY: BY KATE KYRIACOU From: The Courier-Mail

DRUNKEN lads' holidays in Thailand and Indonesia, involving unprotected sex with prostitutes, are boosting Queensland's HIV rate.

And men from north Queensland are picking up the virus from trips to nearby Papua New Guinea, a country with one of the world's highest HIV rates.

The alarming hike in the rate of human immunodeficiency virus, a forerunner to AIDs, has led for calls to again push the safe-sex message amid fears young people are becoming lax.

In 2010, Queensland recorded its highest number of new HIV cases - with 206 people diagnosed - and the numbers are still climbing.

WA has also recorded an increase but across the rest of the country figures remain steady or have declined.

And while most cases continue to involve gay men, the number of heterosexuals contracting HIV is increasing.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Richard Kidd said the increase in WA and Queensland was likely due to the mining boom in those states.

"Young men, isolated from their families, earning lots of money - and whether they are going to Thailand and having sex with prostitutes or whether prostitutes are coming in from other countries, the data doesn't quite tell us.

"But they are both legitimate concerns."

He said Thailand and Papua New Guinea had the highest rate of HIV per head of population, with 1300 out of every 100,000 people diagnosed with the disease in Thailand and 900 per 100,000 in PNG.

Full story: http://www.theaustra...o-1226361801347

-- THE AUSTRALIAN 2012-05-21

[OzMick]

Sex tourism to PNG - the home of the fabled ugly tree? Some of the women there may be attractive, but I've never been that drunk.

[BookMan]

Really, what kind of moron does not use a condom with a one off or paid for sex partner?

[DP25]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

This guy is a f*%&ing moron and that isn't even remotely true. New infections in Thailand have dropped from +150,000 per year in the early 90s to 10,000 per year now, roughly the same per capita level as the United States. Southern African countries have 20-30% of the population infected and Thailand has less than 1%, and most of them infected more than 10 years ago and the number of new cases are relatively small.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

[RickBradford]

Either way he is an uninformed bigot

The writer is a woman.

[jalansanitwong]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

This guy is a f*%&ing moron and that isn't even remotely true. New infections in Thailand have dropped from +150,000 per year in the early 90s to 10,000 per year now, roughly the same per capita level as the United States. Southern African countries have 20-30% of the population infected and Thailand has less than 1%, and most of them infected more than 10 years ago and the number of new cases are relatively small.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

That should draw a huge sigh of relief to 250,000 farangs living withThai bar wives.

[OzMick]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

This guy is a f*%&ing moron and that isn't even remotely true. New infections in Thailand have dropped from +150,000 per year in the early 90s to 10,000 per year now, roughly the same per capita level as the United States. Southern African countries have 20-30% of the population infected and Thailand has less than 1%, and most of them infected more than 10 years ago and the number of new cases are relatively small.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

Regional statistics for HIV and AIDS, end of 2010

Region Adults & children

living with HIV/AIDS Adults & children

newly infected Adult prevalence* AIDS-related deaths in

adults & children Sub-Saharan Africa 22.9 million 1.9 million 5.0% 1.2 million North Africa & Middle East 470,000 59,000 0.2% 35,000 South and South-East Asia 4 million 270,000 0.3% 250,000 East Asia 790,000 88,000 0.1% 56,000 Oceania 54,000 3,300 0.3% 1,600 Latin America 1.5 million 100,000 0.4% 67,000 Caribbean 200,000 12,000 0.9% 9,000 Eastern Europe & Central Asia 1.5 million 160,000 0.9% 90,000 North America 1.3 million 58,000 0.6% 20,000 Western & Central Europe 840,000 30,000 0.2% 9,900 Global Total 34 million 2.7 million 0.8% 1.8 million

[laurentbkk]

Really, what kind of moron does not use a condom with a one off or paid for sex partner?

you said it ........... a moron !

[DP25]

Either way he is an uninformed bigot

The writer is a woman.

Yeah but she's just repeating what Dr Richard Kidd told her. The comments is his. It is his 'theory' that the recent rise in HIV is do to people traveling to the HIV capital of the world, Thailand.

Lets look at HIV statistics from Australia

http://www.avert.org...v-australia.htm

1990 - 1,283 infected

1995 - 890

2000 - 763

2005 - 962

2009 - 1,050

This guy is full of it, he has no evidence Thailand is a major source of that and they've had relatively close to the same number of new infections for 20 years anyway. Contrast to Thailand which has fewer than 10% of the new infections per year they had 20 years ago.

Edited May 21, 2012 by DP25

[jonclark]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

I don't think his mission is to keep people away from Thailand - I think its more likely he wants to prevent people from catching HIV and if he has to lie or be creative with the truth to accomplish that, then good. This article is meant for domestic Australian consumption, if it offends Thailand but makes a young Aussie (or any race for that matter) think about wrapping up when he dips his wick, who cares it's worth it?!

Think about the amount of bull the Thai media puts out about other countries to boost there own image of Thailand.

[OzMick]

Thailand

Thailand HIV & AIDS Statistics Estimated total population, 2010 67,089,500 Estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS, end 2009 530,000 Estimated number of women living with HIV/AIDS, end 2009 210,000 Estimated adult HIV prevalence, end 2009 1.3% Estimated number of AIDS-related deaths in 2009 28,000

[DP25]

From 2010

http://www.thaivisa....1000-this-year/

This year there have been 10,853 new infections among adults and children. Gay men remain the group most affected by HIV, officials said.

Not remotely the 'HIV capital of the world'. A bit higher rate than Australia for sure, but so is the US. People should use condoms when having sex with prostitutes but this guy is just talking out of his ass.

[OzMick]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

I don't think his mission is to keep people away from Thailand - I think its more likely he wants to prevent people from catching HIV and if he has to lie or be creative with the truth to accomplish that, then good. This article is meant for domestic Australian consumption, if it offends Thailand but makes a young Aussie (or any race for that matter) think about wrapping up when he dips his wick, who cares it's worth it?!

Think about the amount of bull the Thai media puts out about other countries to boost there own image of Thailand.

The position of the AMA is that the public should be told the truth. If you remember the "bowling alley" ad campaign, it was withdrawn at the insistence of the AMA that it was false advertising. Sorry, no link. info as supplied by my oz doctor, who also supplied that transmission to healthy males (no penile sores) NOT engaging in anal sex or intravenous drug use is negligible because transmission requires a fluid transfer.

Statistics are slightly skewed by some men refusing to admit engaging in homosexual activity. Freddy Mercury held that stance until just before his death - who would have thought Freddy was gay?

Anecdotally, I know of 3 men who have found out that their long term partner was in varying stages of the disease. None have been infected.

[janderton]

...This guy is a f*%&ing moron and that isn't even remotely true. New infections in Thailand have dropped from +150,000 per year in the early 90s to 10,000 per year now, roughly the same per capita level as the United States. Southern African countries have 20-30% of the population infected and Thailand has less than 1%, and most of them infected more than 10 years ago and the number of new cases are relatively small.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

most probably the guy does read news form national news bureau of thailand

BANGKOK, 18 March 2012 (NNT) - The Public Health Ministry reports that the number of HIV/AIDs patients in Thailand is on the rise with over 1 million patients currently. ...

who's the uninformed bigot...

[janderton]

OT

.. who would have thought Freddy was gay?

...

ask ther same question about George Michael or Ricky Martin...

anyway, gay people has sixth sense to recognise it

[DP25]

most probably the guy does read news form national news bureau of thailand

BANGKOK, 18 March 2012 (NNT) - The Public Health Ministry reports that the number of HIV/AIDs patients in Thailand is on the rise with over 1 million patients currently. ...

who's the uninformed bigot...

As was pointed out when that news story was posted, that was completely wrong as well. 1 million is the TOTAL that have been infected over 30 years, not the number of infected currently.

http://www.thaivisa....1000-this-year/

More than a million Thais had caught HIV since the first case was reported in 1984 and two thirds of these - some 644,128 people - had died of Aids, the Public Health Ministry revealed yesterday.

And I'll repeat the number of new infections for some that don't get it

This year there have been 10,853 new infections among adults and children. Gay men remain the group most affected by HIV, officials said.

The current infection rate in Thailand is low, about the same as the US, although higher than in Oz or Europe. In the early 90s the infection rate was VERY high, over 150,000 people infected per year. Most of them have died. Many Thais infected with HIV now got it 10 years ago or more, and are alive today thanks to the government providing free medication for them. Thailand is not remotely the HIV capital of the world

[BookMan]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

I don't think his mission is to keep people away from Thailand - I think its more likely he wants to prevent people from catching HIV and if he has to lie or be creative with the truth to accomplish that, then good. This article is meant for domestic Australian consumption, if it offends Thailand but makes a young Aussie (or any race for that matter) think about wrapping up when he dips his wick, who cares it's worth it?!

Think about the amount of bull the Thai media puts out about other countries to boost there own image of Thailand.

The position of the AMA is that the public should be told the truth. If you remember the "bowling alley" ad campaign, it was withdrawn at the insistence of the AMA that it was false advertising. Sorry, no link. info as supplied by my oz doctor, who also supplied that transmission to healthy males (no penile sores) NOT engaging in anal sex or intravenous drug use is negligible because transmission requires a fluid transfer.

Statistics are slightly skewed by some men refusing to admit engaging in homosexual activity. Freddy Mercury held that stance until just before his death - who would have thought Freddy was gay?

Anecdotally, I know of 3 men who have found out that their long term partner was in varying stages of the disease. None have been infected.

Mick, I think the grim Reaper campaign was seen as successful in raising awareness and was not withdrawn at the time, but, it was seen as being a campaign of fear rather than of education.

Here it is!

[janderton]

BANGKOK, 18 March 2012 (NNT) - The Public Health Ministry reports that the number of HIV/AIDs patients in Thai is on the rise with over 1 million patients currently.

"currently" and "since" to me are not synonymous, moreover the use of the word "patients" can't be reffered to dead's one:

as from the article i understand (and guess not only me) there are NOW 1 million people ill, not 1 mililon since 1984..

[OzMick]

The position of the AMA is that the public should be told the truth. If you remember the "bowling alley" ad campaign, it was withdrawn at the insistence of the AMA that it was false advertising. Sorry, no link. info as supplied by my oz doctor, who also supplied that transmission to healthy males (no penile sores) NOT engaging in anal sex or intravenous drug use is negligible because transmission requires a fluid transfer.

Statistics are slightly skewed by some men refusing to admit engaging in homosexual activity. Freddy Mercury held that stance until just before his death - who would have thought Freddy was gay?

Anecdotally, I know of 3 men who have found out that their long term partner was in varying stages of the disease. None have been infected.

Mick, I think the grim Reaper campaign was seen as successful in raising awareness and was not withdrawn at the time, but, it was seen as being a campaign of fear rather than of education.

Here it is!

[media=]

[/media]

I know it ran for some time, but i was told as statistics proved it wrong there was growing disquiet by doctors, and the AMA raised the matter WITH a threat to sue if it was not withdrawn. As the guy was my family doctor and anaesthetist (??) goes without saying I take his word.

[DP25]

BANGKOK, 18 March 2012 (NNT) - The Public Health Ministry reports that the number of HIV/AIDs patients in Thai is on the rise with over 1 million patients currently.

"currently" and "since" to me are not synonymous, moreover the use of the word "patients" can't be reffered to dead's one:

as from the article i understand (and guess not only me) there are NOW 1 million people ill, not 1 mililon since 1984..

Read the article I posted. The Thai National News Bureau are constantly making errors in their stories. The people who write there barely speak English and don't understand the subjects they write about. 1 million is the total number ever infected in Thailand, of those 644,128 have died (when the article was written in 2010). ~10,000 per year is the current new infection rate.

Edited May 21, 2012 by DP25

[janderton]

...The Thai National News Bureau are constantly making errors in their stories. The people who write there barely speak English and don't understand the subjects they write about....

i have no way to forward your consideration to Narumon Ngamsaithong (the reporter), as NNT's site link "contact us" is not working

[folium]

Some excellent material on HIV/AIDS in Thailand here:

http://www.avert.org/thailand-aids-hiv.htm#contentTable0

The key issue is that having had a very successful campaign re HIV/AIDS in the 1990's the focus from government has slipped and so has public awareness. Organizations such as Avert fear that a second wave of HIV could hit Thailand unless the public (especially young people) are alerted to the potential threat of unprotected sex.

Key statistics:

Thailand Statistics³⁰ Estimated total population, end 2011³¹ 66,720,153 Estimated number of people living with HIV, end 2009 530,000 Adults aged 15 and over living with HIV, end 2009 520,000 Women aged 15 and over living with HIV, end 2009 210,000 Estimated adult (15-49) HIV prevalence, end 2009 1.3% Estimated number of AIDS deaths in 2009 28,000

• The majority of Thailand’s HIV infections occur through heterosexual sex.³²
  
• HIV prevalence among pregnant women, which reached a peak of 3.4% in 1992, had fallen to under 1% by 2009.³³
  

"Not all sex is sold in commercial sex establishments. Although it is difficult to monitor free lance sex workers (part time sex workers who solicit sex in public places or restaurants and bars), signs are that HIV prevalence is increasing within this group and among male sex workers in general. According to one study conducted by the government in Bangkok in 2007, HIV prevalence among freelance sex workers in Bangkok was 19 percent whereas HIV prevalence had declined to 4.3 percent in CSEs in that year.

⁵⁹

The percentage of sex workers who have had an HIV test and know there results has declined; whereas around half of sex workers surveyed had been tested in the past 12 months in 2007, this had dropped to around a third in 2009".⁶⁰

[jaltsc]

Really, what kind of moron does not use a condom with a one off or paid for sex partner?

The kind of moron who thinks "Why should I use a condom? She doesn't know my name or where I live. She'll never get me for a paternity suit"

[Scott]

One rather racist comment has been deleted.

[BookMan]

Some excellent material on HIV/AIDS in Thailand here:

http://www.avert.org...m#contentTable0

The key issue is that having had a very successful campaign re HIV/AIDS in the 1990's the focus from government has slipped and so has public awareness. Organizations such as Avert fear that a second wave of HIV could hit Thailand unless the public (especially young people) are alerted to the potential threat of unprotected sex.

Key statistics:

Thailand Statistics³⁰ Estimated total population, end 2011³¹ 66,720,153 Estimated number of people living with HIV, end 2009 530,000 Adults aged 15 and over living with HIV, end 2009 520,000 Women aged 15 and over living with HIV, end 2009 210,000 Estimated adult (15-49) HIV prevalence, end 2009 1.3% Estimated number of AIDS deaths in 2009 28,000

• The majority of Thailand’s HIV infections occur through heterosexual sex.³²
  
• HIV prevalence among pregnant women, which reached a peak of 3.4% in 1992, had fallen to under 1% by 2009.³³
  

"Not all sex is sold in commercial sex establishments. Although it is difficult to monitor free lance sex workers (part time sex workers who solicit sex in public places or restaurants and bars), signs are that HIV prevalence is increasing within this group and among male sex workers in general. According to one study conducted by the government in Bangkok in 2007, HIV prevalence among freelance sex workers in Bangkok was 19 percent whereas HIV prevalence had declined to 4.3 percent in CSEs in that year.

⁵⁹

The percentage of sex workers who have had an HIV test and know there results has declined; whereas around half of sex workers surveyed had been tested in the past 12 months in 2007, this had dropped to around a third in 2009".⁶⁰

Wow, 19% amongst freelance sex workers.

Use a condom. Why take a chance?

[Banzai99]

I knew a German guy who had a Thai GF, she also had a Thai man that worked in a Pattayaland gay bar.

All 3 are now dead, Thai guy got it, passed it onto her and she kindly infected the German.

Luck of the draw.

[Orac]

Some excellent material on HIV/AIDS in Thailand here:

http://www.avert.org...m#contentTable0

The key issue is that having had a very successful campaign re HIV/AIDS in the 1990's the focus from government has slipped and so has public awareness. Organizations such as Avert fear that a second wave of HIV could hit Thailand unless the public (especially young people) are alerted to the potential threat of unprotected sex.

Key statistics:

Thailand Statistics³⁰ Estimated total population, end 2011³¹ 66,720,153 Estimated number of people living with HIV, end 2009 530,000 Adults aged 15 and over living with HIV, end 2009 520,000 Women aged 15 and over living with HIV, end 2009 210,000 Estimated adult (15-49) HIV prevalence, end 2009 1.3% Estimated number of AIDS deaths in 2009 28,000

• The majority of Thailand’s HIV infections occur through heterosexual sex.³²
  
• HIV prevalence among pregnant women, which reached a peak of 3.4% in 1992, had fallen to under 1% by 2009.³³
  

"Not all sex is sold in commercial sex establishments. Although it is difficult to monitor free lance sex workers (part time sex workers who solicit sex in public places or restaurants and bars), signs are that HIV prevalence is increasing within this group and among male sex workers in general. According to one study conducted by the government in Bangkok in 2007, HIV prevalence among freelance sex workers in Bangkok was 19 percent whereas HIV prevalence had declined to 4.3 percent in CSEs in that year.

⁵⁹

The percentage of sex workers who have had an HIV test and know there results has declined; whereas around half of sex workers surveyed had been tested in the past 12 months in 2007, this had dropped to around a third in 2009".⁶⁰

Wow, 19% amongst freelance sex workers.

Use a condom. Why take a chance?

I think that the 19 % could be refering to male sex workers - the currently quoted figure for female sex workers is around 1.8 % according to the AIDS Response Progress Report 2012 though a condom should still be used!

Edit: correction - the 1.8 % only refers to "venue based" female sex workers rather than "freelance"

ce_TH_Narrative_Report1.pdf

Edited May 21, 2012 by Orac

[moe666]

Living in Thailand I think I need to worry more about being killed in an accident than catching HIV. I donot have unprotected sex.

[geriatrickid]

From later in the article -

"I would want to get that message out again about safe sex - I don't know how much young men are aware that Thailand is the HIV capital of the world," Dr Kidd said.

This guy is a f*%&ing moron and that isn't even remotely true. New infections in Thailand have dropped from +150,000 per year in the early 90s to 10,000 per year now, roughly the same per capita level as the United States. Southern African countries have 20-30% of the population infected and Thailand has less than 1%, and most of them infected more than 10 years ago and the number of new cases are relatively small.

I don't know if he is incredibly misinformed or he is deliberately spreading misinformation to keep people away from Thailand or because he is against prostitution for moral reasons. Either way he is an uninformed bigot

I suggest you read the article again.

The subject is the increased number of HIV+ Australian visitors. The article is not about HIV in the general population of Thailand, Indonesia, or PNG.The information given in respect to the general infection rate was "background" information. It's really quite simple. The likelihood of contracting HIV is higher for those where one of the participants is promiscuous than if the participants are not.

Do not assume that HIV is under control in SE Asia. It is not. The access to confidential testing has been reduced over the past decade. As such, there are alot of people walking around that are HIV+ and that do not know it or do not want to know it. I can assure you that if 100 workers were randomly rounded up at the Bangla bars, or Paradise bars in Patong, 10-30 of the subjects would test positive (depending upon the tourist season). Now if I rounded up 100 people at random on the Mahidol campus, I would be surprised to find 1 that tested HIV+. It's all about where one casts his net for romance.

[OzMick]

Perhaps I should have expanded my earlier statement. During an extended consultation with my Australian doctor it was made clear to me that the AMA considers there to be 3 high-risk groups of people (re HIV):

Anybody sharing needles during intravenous drug use (that is why needles are handed out free to at risk people)

Anybody engaging in anal sex, and a condom is NOT a 100% protection

Women who have sex with those in the above groups.

Guess which group is the largest.