Focus on gay men, drug users: HIV experts
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation



Mahidol Award winners also call for countries to help eliminate AIDS stigma

BANGKOK: -- THAILAND and other countries are being urged to pay more attention to HIV prevention among gay men and drug users as well as work on eliminating the stigma against people living with Aids, the world's top health experts said yesterday.

"We need to devote more attention to the protection of homosexual men and drug users and continue fighting stigma, especially among the young, which is very important to fight against the epidemic," Prof Peter Piot, a director at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said.

Piot, who was previously an executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids), was one of the four physicians who won this year's Prince Mahidol Award for their dedication to HIV/Aids research.

Prof David D Ho and Dr Anthony Fauci are being honoured for their work in the field of medicine related to HIV/Aids, while Prof Piot and Dr Jim Yong Kim will be awarded for their work in the fields of HIV/Aids and public health.

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will present the awards today. According Piot, who has played a key role in controlling the spread of Aids, Thailand is the first country to cut down on the number of HIV infections and provide free anti-retroviral drugs.

Thailand has also succeeded in promoting the use of condoms and effectively campaigning against the stigma associated with HIV, he said.

However, he said, all countries need to address the prevention of HIV among gay men and other marginalised communities that face a high risk of infection.



'Still a long way to go'

"We still have a long way to go to win the fight against HIV/Aids. It is not over. We need to double our efforts to end the epidemic," Piot said.

He also called for international agencies to provide financial resources for the anti-HIV/Aids movement.

Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has been researching HIV, said a new version of the anti-retroviral drug - which is able to suppress the virus and help people living with Aids lead normal lives - would be available this year.

However, he said, early detection and treatment were also very important before the patient develops complications.

In the United States, he said, about 18 per cent of the people infected with HIV are unaware of their infection and about 55 per cent of all HIV infections come from people who don't know they are infected. That's why early detection is important because not only does it allow for treatment, it can also help prevent the spread of disease.

Dr Ho, president of the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Centre in New York, was the first person to initiate the use of the highly active anti-retroviral therapy.

He said that apart from the drug, a curative therapy study was also ongoing.


-- The Nation 2014-01-28

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And Christian and other religions can preach whatever they deem right? Circumcising young kids and so on? That's alright then? To all parents that are religious I say, there is no such thing as a religious child born. There are only religious parents brainwashing their children.

You seem to condone the idea that if we do not speak about homosexuality, it somehow disappears. Homosexuals are born to be what they are. And in about 99,99% of cases they are born into heterosexual families.

When I was young I would have wished to have someone tell me that existed people like me. The indoctrination was that time fully heterosexual - didn't work with me, though.

Get real.

Thank god for Mr. Putin

You can thank the bastard but I won't. The article is focusing on how to deal with the scourge of HIV/Aids and this really isn't the place to demonstrate one's ignorance about sexuality.

You seem to condone the idea that if we do not speak about homosexuality, it somehow disappears. Homosexuals are born to be what they are.

It is clear that homosexuality will always exist, whether it is spoken about to children or not. Equally so, it is clear that in societies that do not condone homosexuality that some percentage of those who would otherwise practice homosexuality do not, and this is particularly true of children.

It should thus be obvious that if we wish to reduce HIV infections in children then we should keep them sexually away from populations that are excessively HIV positive, and that would appear to be true of the homosexual population according to this article. Putin's approach will keep homosexuality away from some kids who otherwise would engage in these acts. Accordingly it is for this reason, and plenty of others, a humane policy and one that is highly relevant to HIV prevention in children.

So that this could be put to perspective:

About 80% of HIV transmission in Thailand is heterosexual, as compared to about 10% in the USA and some other western countries.

http://www.thailandguru.com/hiv-aids-thailand.html

The HIV/Aids infection rate is rising in Thailand, with 9,470 new cases a year being reported, 80% from unsafe sex.

About 62% of the 464,414 people known to be infected with the virus in the country are men, according to the Ministry of Health.

We now have one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the world. We used to have one of the lowest.

Young Thais don't realise how easy it is to become infected with HIV. They allow their erections to rule their lives rather than their brains.

So that leaves about 38% of HIV positive people being female. Are they all Lesbians, perhaps? And as it seems, no foreigners are much involved getting Thai teenagers pregnant.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/327339/aids-hiv-crisis-thailand-learning

Thailand 1,148,117 N/A 666,347 ~10,000 Dec 2009^[12] random

According to statistics Thailand has over a million HIV positive citizens. over 600000 have been lost over two decades. Yearly increase being around 10000 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HIV/AIDS_cases_and_deaths_registered_by_region

Worthwhile cause indeed but let's not take agendas against sexual minorities, please.

Well after reading and discovering his attitudes, I would suggest that Earthpig is exactly that.

It seems this gay forum thread has been INFECTED with homophobic posts.

This is a serious health related topic.

Not a platform for people to spew their nasty intolerance.

1-3% of humans are homosexual..

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If you are able to read then I suggest that you do some research and you will be surprised to discover that heterosexual people quite enjoy and regularly participate [that means "to take part in"] anal sex. They also participate [do you remember the meaning of that word?] sometimes in bondage, S & M, watersports and various other non-missionary activities [similar meaning to participations] so I wonder do you call that abnormal too?

I know that it will stretch your mental capacity to its very limit but while you are researching in the encyclopedia [that is a very big book of knowledge] you may discover that homosexuality is very widespraed in the natural world as well suggesting that it is not abnormal.

You perhaps should be aware during this very steep learning curve that you are about to experience, that the people who are anti gay are the ones who are troubled by it in themselves and express their anti gay attitudes to hide their own interest in participating [gosh I hope you can remember all these big new words].

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Thank god for Mr. Putin having the courage to show us all one way to reduce HIV infection, and to otherwise help protect our young boys from a life of misery.

Now Russians are replacing this law with the new one, prosecuting any sexual education among minors. Sure, if teachers will not say a word about sex children will wait until the age of 18. HIV problem solved.

1-3% of humans are homosexual...

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Oh dear - you had better keep that big book open and read further. The percentages are now known to be between 7% and 10%. of course if you include bi-sexual people then those who participate in homosexual sex could possibly jump to 20% or even 30%.

Lots of straight couple go in for threesomes too which means that one of them is having gay sex.

WOW - the numbers are starting to add up.

Is it really so abnormal???

Back to the OP.

Too many gay people (and MSM), especially younger ones, think getting HIV is no big deal.

It's not like when I lived in San Francisco in the 1980's and beautiful young men were becoming old decrepit men in weeks or months, and then dead, and nothing doctors could do. Really, we're talking PLAGUE.

There are now treatments to keep most people alive for a long time.

We know now (and have for decades) how to significantly lower risk of becoming infected.

However, it is STILL a big deal and life changing, in a very negative way.

Yes it is well known that Thailand had made a lot of progress with HIV prevention but in recent several years they have slipped.

News that indicates more attention will be paid to prevention is at least promising and a move in the right direction.

Back to the OP.

Too many gay people (and MSM), especially younger ones, think getting HIV is no big deal.

It's not like when I lived in San Francisco in the 1980's and beautiful young men were becoming old decrepit men in weeks or months, and then dead, and nothing doctors could do. Really, we're talking PLAGUE.

There are now treatments to keep most people alive for a long time.

We know now (and have for decades) how to significantly lower risk of becoming infected.

However, it is STILL a big deal and life changing, in a very negative way.

Yes it is well known that Thailand had made a lot of progress with HIV prevention but in recent several years they have slipped.

News that indicates more attention will be paid to prevention is at least promising and a move in the right direction.

I agree. As a teenager in the UK in the 80s, AIDS awareness adverts really scared the life out of me. They were severe, dramatic and imposing. Now, HIV awareness seems, I think, to be expected to be innate. I see no mass campaigns of public awareness at all.

As is happens, I lived in Russia for a few years (and there are many active gays there) and their approach to protection was that it was not necessary in any circumstances.

Numerous posts have been deleted, but many more need to be. The thread will be closed for cleanup.

//Closed//

The topic has been cleaned up a bit. This topic is in the gay sub-forum and you are expected to abide by the rules of the forum including these rules:

1) To respect fellow members.

7) Not to post slurs or degrading comments directed towards any group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

Please take the time to re-read the OP and to stay on topic.

Surely, the serious issue, is not about homosexuality or heterosexuality, but about the life style choices - the way you live. The risks people take with their health and well-being.

Does one choose to smoke and thereby increase one's chances of developing cancers? Does one choose to have unprotected sex and thereby increase one's chances of contracting STDs? Does one share needles when injecting drugs, etc. etc.

It's all about the awareness of lifestyle choices and their possible consequences. Children should be educated about risk.

It is not about being homo- or heterosexual.

It's partly about anal sex which is very high risk if done unprotected and still some risk with protection. MSM have more anal sex than non-MSM people. Not all MSM people have anal sex (or do currently) but many do. Different countries have different risk groups and different common means of transmission. It makes good sense in Thailand to target consciousness campaigns towards MSM and IV drug users not to stigmatize these groups but to encourage prevention.

Thailand has also succeeded in promoting the use of condoms and effectively campaigning against the stigma associated with HIV, he said.

Which led some high school kids to use plastic bags they had from a street vendor a few years ago, as they couldn't afford to buy condoms.-