Los Angeles Times Examines HIV Prevention, Treatment Programs in Thailand
The Los Angeles Times on Sunday examined HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs in Thailand. The country had been considered a model for Asian nations on how to fight the epidemic, but it recently has experienced a "wave of indifference and ignorance that threatens to overwhelm" its earlier success, according to the Times. Government spending on the epidemic has decreased from $82 million in 1997 to $25 million in 2003; rates of condom use among commercial sex workers has decreased from 96% to 50%; and HIV prevalence among injection drug users has increased from 30% in 1994 to 50% today, the Times reports (Maugh, Los Angeles Times, 8/1). The complete article is available online. A kaisernetwork.org video feature -- prepared by Fred de Sam Lazaro, who also is a correspondent for the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" -- includes interviews with people at the front lines of efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Thailand. The video is the fourth in a series of spotlights from kaisernetwork.org on local efforts around the world to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The other features -- which examine HIV/AIDS in Haiti, Brazil and India -- also are available online.
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