Thailand AIDS Program ‘In Serious Danger of Unraveling,’ Report Says, New York Times Reports
Thailand AIDS Program "In Serious Danger of Unraveling," Report Says, New York Times Reports
Thailand's AIDS program is "in serious danger of unraveling," according to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations Development Programme, the New York Times reports (Altman, New York Times, 7/9). The report, titled "Thailand's Response to HIV/AIDS," says that the country's public information and education campaigns are "faint"; public concern about the disease has "ebbed"; funding for HIV/AIDS programs "no longer matches the renewed threat"; and HIV prevalence in the country is "unacceptably high" among injection drug users, men who have sex with men, mobile populations and fishermen (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/8). Mechai Viravaidaya, an AIDS prevention leader in Thailand, said, "Condoms need to be available everywhere." Mechai added that Bangkok, Thailand, has the first ATM in the world that can dispense condoms with cash, according to the Times (New York Times, 7/9). The complete article is available online.
Kaisernetwork.org on July 10 will webcast an interview with International AIDS Society President and Co-Chair of the XV International AIDS Conference Joep Lange about the state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia, scientific and political challenges facing the fight against the disease and his hopes for the conference. The webcast and other coverage are available online at www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2004.