Thailand to Participate in Research Project on Discrimination Against People With HIV/AIDS in Asia-Pacific Region
Thailand has announced that it will join six other Asia-Pacific countries in conducting research into the causes of discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, Xinhua News Agency reports. Thailand joins Australia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam on the research project, which is funded by the Ford Foundation. The project will gather information to create a platform addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS discrimination in the Asia-Pacific region and help update and improve international conventions on the epidemic. Thailand decided to participate in the effort after hosting a workshop on HIV/AIDS-related discrimination last week. Sen. Jon Ungpakorn said that discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS in Thailand is growing because of "a common lack of understanding on the disease in the Thai society," according to Xinhua News Agency. Thai officials will work with representatives from universities and non-governmental organizations to gather data, and the results of the project will be presented and discussed at a meeting of participating countries next year (Xinhua News Agency, 8/26).
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