AIDS IN THAILAND
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BOOK IN THAI LANGUAGE FOR KNOW AND PREVENTION AIDS
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BOOK IN THAI LANGUAGE FOR KNOW THE ANTIRETROVIRAL TREATMENT WITH GPO-VIR
The first case of AIDS in Thailand was reported in September 1984. While the early AIDS cases were reported predominantly among Thai homosexual males, subsequently, the virus spread rapidly to injecting drug users, and to sex workers and their clients. As of January 2004, 231,712 AIDS cases have been reported, of whom nearly 80% were in the age group 20-39 years. The male-to-female ratio of reported AIDS cases is 2.8:1. Of the AIDS cases reported to date with a known route of transmission, heterosexual mode accounts for the highest proportion of cases (88%), followed by injecting drug use (6%) and perinatal transmission (5%). Data from a comprehensive sentinel surveillance system indicate that the HIV prevalence among pregnant women, after reaching a peak of 2.35% in 1995, has consistently declined in the past five years to reach 1.18% in 2003. Nationally, HIV prevalence among military conscripts decreased markedly from 4% in 1993 to 0.5% in 2003. Among commercial sex workers, HIV prevalence peaked in the mid-nineties and has constantly declined since then. The HIV prevalence among injecting drug users, however, remains high at 33% in 2003 and poses a major challenges to HIV control in Thailand. The HIV prevalence among the other high risk groups in 2003 was: female direct sex workers (10.87%); male sex workers (7.90%), fishermen (6.86%); male STD clients (4.00%); female indirect sex workers (3.67%); and blood donors (0.27%). At the end of 2003, an estimated 1.7% of the adult Thai population aged 15-49 years was infected with HIV. The estimated number of PLWHAs at the end of 2003 was 570,000. Although Thailand has achieved substantial success in HIV control with the annual number of new HIV infections dropping from 142,819 in 1991 to 21,260 in 2003, the AIDS crisis will continue to grow as the large number of PLWHAs who were infected during the past 10 years or earlier will develop AIDS in the coming years. According to projections for the next five years, nearly 50,000 new AIDS cases will occur in Thailand every year. To address the needs of the PLWHAs, the Thai government has been expanding its antiretroviral programme since 2000. Currently, approximately 13,000 PLWHAs are on antiretroviral therapy. The government has committed to the goal of universal access to care and has allocated 25 million US dollars in fiscal year 2004 to scale up access to ARV to 50,000 PLWHAs. THAILAND: AIDS, THE FIRST CAUSE OF DEAD
The died AIDS is the first cause of died in Thailand. Today governmental
sources have declared, cited from the Bbc online, finding as the virus
it is now seriously threatening also social categories till now
considered not to risk.
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The Thailand is between the Asian Countries with the most number of
persons with the virus of the Hiv and with more than million its been
involved inhabitants in the prostitution industry. A market dangerously
of succeeding, if every year succeeds to attract more than ten million
than sex-tourists.
ACCESS TO HIV TREATMENT IN THAILAND
HIV/AIDS is a disease that
affects many parts of society. It decreases child survival and life
expectancy. There is an increased number of orphans and the healthcare
system is overburdened. Most people with HIV/AIDS are of working age, which
means losses to business as well. The situation for people with HIV/AIDS has
been made worse by the economic crisis that has affected Thailand since the
middle of 1997.
In spite of Thailand's successful approach to prevention of HIV infection,
about one million people are infected with HIV. In 1995 a World Bank / WHO
review advised Thailand to focus its limited HIV drug resources on the
prevention of perinatal HIV infection and on management of opportunistic
infections. The AIDS Division has issued guidelines for prevention and
treatment of opportunistic infections. Short-course zidovudine to limit
perinatal transmission is also being implemented.
However these interventions alone are not an answer to the huge amount of
personal suffering and social disruption caused by the HIV epidemic. The
reality is that few patients can afford antiretrovirals: the monthly price
of effective treatment regimens containing three drugs is in the range
18,000 baht to 26,000 baht per month.
In fact the real price of most of these drugs should be much lower. Drugs
such as AZT, ddI, d4T, 3TC, efavirenz and niverapine are simple compounds
which are easy to produce and formulate. The Thai Government Pharmaceutical
Organisation (GPO) has supplied generic AZT (zidovudine) since 1993. The
resulting competition led to a fall in the price of AZT 100mg capsule from
48 baht in 1992 to 12 baht in 1995.
Antiretroviral drugs have an expensive image because of marketing practices
of the pharmaceutical industry. The industry claims that it needs to sell
the medicines at a high price to recoup costs of research and development,
but in fact most of these drugs were developed by US Government funded
institutions, not the pharmaceutical industry.
Thailand is capable of producing good-quality cheap generic drugs GPO-VIR, but local production has been limited by US government trade pressure. The US government regards TRIPS as a minimum standard and in bilateral discussions often asks for additional commitments, using threats of trade sanctions to achieve its objectives. The US is the destination of 25 % of Thai exports, so these threats are taken very seriously.
Thai pharmaceutical companies produce
high quality, affordable generic drugs from imported raw materials. A good
example is FLUCONAZOLE.
Fluconazole is a key drug in the management of cryptococcal meningitis, a
lethal opportunistic infection affecting one in five AIDS patients in
Thailand. Until recently Pfizer was the sole supplier of fluconazole in
Thailand, charging a daily price (dosage: 400mg) of more than 500 baht. In
1998, fluconazole was released from SMP protection in Thailand and is now
supplied by three local pharmaceutical companies. The price has fallen to
five percent of the 1998 price, which represents a huge potential annual
saving to Thailand in the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis. HIV
physicians have reported improved compliance with treatment now that the
treatment is more affordable. Medicine Sans Frontiere is examining, if the
experienced decline in cryptococcal meningitis can be scientifically
documented.
In 1992, under threat from the US to limit textile imports, the Thai
government passed a law banning parallel imports (parallel imports will be
allowed again with the amended patent law going in effect 1999). In 1993
Thailand introduced pipeline protection for pharmaceuticals under pressure
from the United States. As a safeguard, the Thai government created the
Pharmaceutical Patent Review Board, which had authority to collect economic
data, including the production cost of pharmaceuticals. The US Trade
Representative Office objected and in 1998, under threat of higher tariffs
on imports of wood products and jewellery, the Pharmaceutical Patent Review
Board was disbanded and measures were taken which led to banning the right
to issue compulsory licenses for pharmaceuticals.
SEPTEMBER 2001 - Pfizer Inc. announced that it will offer Diflucan antifungal medicine at no charge to HIV/AIDS patients in the fifty least-developed countries as identified by the United Nations where HIV/AIDS is most prevalent. Diflucan is not an anti-retroviral medication such as those that make up what is known as "AIDS cocktails," used in HIV-infected patients to prevent them from getting full blown AIDS. Instead, it is used to treat such opportunistic infections as cryptoccal meningitis, a life-threatening illness often seen in AIDS patients.
THAI AIDS "CURE" DISPUTED
June 2001 - A treatment touted as a "miracle cure" for Aids by a Bangkok pharmacist has been attacked by official agencies tackling the disease. Local people infected with HIV, or who have developed full-blown Aids, have been flocking to see Vichai Jirotthi-tikal, to get supplies of his drug "V-1 Immunitor". However, the drug has never undergone any clinical trials, and although Vichai says that some patients have enjoyed radical improvements in their health, this has not been independently verified.
I have a great deal of sympathy for those who want treatment, but it is misleading to make these sorts of claims.
Instead the pharmacist has been criticized for "offering false hope" to the estimated 1,2 million in Thailand who have HIV/Aids.
The drug is a mixture of calcium, magnesium and traces of the virus itself.
When a week's supply was offered free of charge in the city last week, 4,000 people, many seriously ill with the disease, tried to get hold of the drug.
Vichai said : "The data from the blood tests show we can help patients who are HIV positive to develop themselves and have a healthy life. They are normal - they can work."
He claims that the virus has been "eliminated" in two patients, and that symptoms have been eased in other patients.
However, there have not only been no clinical trials of V-1 to test its safety and efficacy, but it is not licensed as a treatment by the Thai government.
Bernard Gardiner, regional manager for HIV/Aids for the Red Cross, said: "I have a great deal of sympathy for those who want treatment, but it is misleading to make these sorts of claims."
That country's health ministry says it plans to study the drug, and has been urged to do so quickly by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Vichai says he will continue to dispense it as long as there is a demand.
BIG PHARMA
Therefore
the druggist multinationals come calls, the colossus that produce medicinal
and that they dictate their law to the governments of all the world. The
first one to defy the Big Pharma has been Nelson Mandela when, in the ' 97,
promulgated the "Medical Act ", a norm that would have concurred with the
South Africa to use copied that is " generic " anti-Aids drugs ", on which
the not satisfied patent royalty and therefore to low cost. The so-called
one cocktail of medicinal that it serves to slow down the course of the
disease, is in fact " property " of the multinationals and the costs you set
up from Big Pharma are absolutely prohibitive for the governments and the
inhabitants of Africa (that it records 25, million persons suffering from
Hiv on calculated 36,1 million in the world) and the other poor Countries.
Although Big Pharma has carried in court the South African government with
large waste of means, in this case has lost the game: it has had to withdraw
the citation and in the meantime other Countries have decided of to revolt
to the hard law of the business: Kenya, India, Brazil, Thailandia. where the
AIDS kills thousand of persons every year. they have begun to import generic
drugs, although Big Pharma at all has not surrendered and obstacles in any
case " the copied " import of the cocktail. Strongly, moreover, of the
international regulations on the rights of the intellectual property. But it
can be worth this norm of forehead to epidemics as those provoked from the
AIDS, the malaria, the hepatitis? The World Health Organization says not and
this clause has been appealled also from Brazil for being able
auto-production the anti-Aids drugs. The Brazilian druggist industries sell
the cocktail (and evidently they gain a profit) to 700 dollars for annual
administration. The patented version of Big Pharma costs instead between the
10.000 and 15.000 dollars. But because much difference of price between home
product drugs and those " officials " of the multinationals? The British
writer John Le Carre explains with great clarity'. Its last novel " Constant
Gardener " is developed around a cruel case of experimentations on human
guinea-pigs
that give to the Kenya door in the elegant offices of some druggist
multinationals. Like always, before writing, celebre the author has passed a
period to study the truth that then he would have told in the novel. And on
purpose of the costs " swollen " of drugs Le Carre' explains that the great
companies patent not only the substances that compose it, but also the
fabrication process, the posology, the type of administration. A compound
can be bound from ten, twelve licences: a system in order to hold to attends
the generic drug producers. " Why until when the licence is in the hands of
Big Pharma. Le Carre' has said. the profit margin is astronomical ".
STOP BIG PHARMA BUSINNESS
LIVES BEFORE PROFIT
PRIORITY THAILAND
As those infected in the past fall ill, there is an increasing demand for AIDS-related medical care -palliative care, prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, anti-retroviral therapies, and end of life care. At the same time, the sustained response on prevention appears to be in danger. Overall public expenditure on the national AIDS program has declined by 28% since 1997 and the prevention budget has declined by half.
The new National Plan for the Prevention and Alleviation of HIV/AIDS in Thailand has two key objectives. Firstly, it aims to prevent the spread of HIV in the general public and secondly, the plan is aims to reduce the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the population. Success in overcoming the epidemic is going to require the joint efforts of many partners in government, the private sector, and the population in general.
Three activities have been identified by the government as a priority in tackling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Thailand. Firstly, there must be renewed efforts to sustain condom use in commercial sex as well as increasing condom use and encouraging safer sexual behaviour amongst other groups at high risk. As Thailand recovers from an economic crisis, rising incomes are likely to lead to renewed demand for commercial sex. With 17% of brothel - based sex workers already infected, any lapse in condom use could have an explosive impact on the epidemic.
Condom use has never been universal among 'indirect' sex workers, and sex workers who have been trafficked from neighbouring countries are a potential gap in the 100% condom programme. Behaviour change and condom use among other high-risk groups, like men who have sex with men, male sex workers, prisoners, fishermen, and others at high occupational risk would have a relatively large impact on the epidemic relative to their cost.
As part of the general effort to increase condom use the government plans to subsidise the cost of condoms as well as selling them in vending machines. Their sale through vending machines will save shy Thais the embarrassment of a visiting a shop such as a supermarket or drug store, where most shop assistants are women. The government has said that in 2001 they will start selling subsidised condoms at five baht ($11 cents) for a pack of two, compared with the usual price of 20 baht. The subsidised condoms will be sold in public facilities, such as factories, police stations and military barracks, but good spots to install the vending machines will have to be found, as otherwise the condoms will loose their quality or be destroyed by insects.
The second priority for the government is to set up a major initiative to prevent transmission by injecting drug use. HIV prevalence has been high and rising among injecting drug users (IDU). It has been estimated that a quarter of all new adult infections result from transmission by injecting drug use. HIV spreads not only among addicts but also to their partners and wives, and then to their children. However, HIV prevention for IDU and their sex partners has never been a priority in Thailand, despite the fact that IDU transmission is an important feature of the AIDS epidemic in almost all countries. To have a major impact on the epidemic, the same kind of policy that has been used in prevention of HIV among sex workers needs to be extended to injecting drug users. It is unlikely that the IDU transmission cycle can be broken unless there is a continuous effort to prevent HIV transmission in prisons and to improve the legal environment for behaviour change among IDU.
The third priority is to ensure that people with HIV/AIDS have access to cost-effective prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections. People with HIV/AIDS can fall seriously ill and die from curable infections that people with normal immune systems can resist. The most important of these infections in Thailand is tuberculosis (TB), but there are many others, for example pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Ensuring access by people with HIV /AIDS to prevention and treatment of the major opportunistic infections would be inexpensive and cost-effective. It would extend life and improve its quality, and particularly benefit poor AIDS patients who otherwise might well not have their infections treated.
The cost of these plans has yet to be worked out. However, going ahead with the plans will require increased public spending on prevention in general, and greater targeting of subsidies to NGOs for prevention among hard-to-reach groups at high risk of contracting HIV and spreading it further. The public finance implications of wider access to HIV prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections are difficult to pinpoint, as there is still uncertainty about the existing level of access, use, and finance.
AT THE FOOTSTEP OF BUDDHA
Isolated at the bottom of a hill from nearby communities, far from the scrutiny of the public life lies wat phrabat Nampo, a Buddist Temple in central Thailand that houses more than 300 patients dying from AIDS and over 3000 waiting to be admitted. The temple is Thailand's largest AIDS hospice and was founded by a monk who witnessed hundreds of Thais dying without proper care in hospitals around the country. Despite a major education campaign AIDS is still misunderstood in Thailand and as a result people who are infected are often ostracized by their community, many patients are abandoned at the hospice by their families leaving them to die alonely death. Monks infected with the HIV virus are among the residents at the hospice, many of whom arrive from other temples where they were told to leave once they were found to be infected. for the monks the hospice is arefuge where they can die in peace. Professional caregivers and volunteers try to make the patient's final days as comfortable as possible at the hospice supplying medicine and beds made possible with donations from around the country. At Wat Phrabat Nampo an average of 2-3 patients die everyday from AIDS.
DOCTOR WITHOUT BORDER
Drug Therapy and Home Care Help AIDS Patients MSF's work in Thailand focuses largely on relieving the suffering of some of the 750,000 people living with AIDS by tackling the issues of access to medicine and sustainable care.
MSF's successful campaign for local production of generic antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), run in collaboration with a network of Thai NGOs, provided direct benefits to the Thai population in spring 2001. Triple therapy ARV treatment began for ten home care AIDS patients and 30 in the hospital in Surin in May.
In the Bangkruai area, MSF provides ARV drugs to 40 patients; it is hoped this program will expand to 250 patients. MSF is committed to the project for at least five years to ensure quality and continuity of care. In Bangkok, MSF makes regular home care visits to another 70 people, 20 of whom also receive antiretrovirals.
MSF is also campaigning for access to drugs to treat opportunistic infections and has run a series of training sessions for Bangkok pharmacists.
These projects are complemented by the ongoing work of MSF in offering technical assistance, training, and support to community hospitals, health stations, and local NGOs in the Ban Laem and Panom Thuan districts.
MSF assists Karen refugees from Burma in camps near the border towns of Mae Sot and Ratchaburi, and the Mons refugee community in Sangklaburi. Teams provide basic medical care, prenatal consultations, and vaccinations.
Since 1999, MSF opened a health center for tuberculosis patients in Mae Sot. The program targets illegal migrant workers. Teams treat patients in the health center, at home or in the places where they work.
MSF has been in Thailand since 1983.
AIDS RESOURCES IN THAILAND
AIDS Network Development
Foundation (AIDSNet)
Email:
aidsnetn@loxinfo.co.th
Bumrungrad Hospital and Medical Centre
22 Sukuhmvit Soi 3, Klong Toey,
Bangkok 10110
TEL: (02) 667-1000
FAX: (02) 667-2525
Full Treatment - also HIV/AIDS conselling by specialists and HIV testing.
(private hospital)
Center for AIDS Rights
166/23 Mu 5, Nuttakarn 3 Village,
Paholythin Road, Klong Than, Sai Mai, Bangkok 10220
TEL: (02) 972-6738
FAX: (02) 972-6385
Providing legal assistance and conselling service for those infected with
HIV/AIDS
Campaingning on rights of those infected/affected through training and
publications. Medical care and treatment.
Men's Health Clinic (formerly Men Loving Men Clinic)
Bangrak Hospital
189 South Sathorn Road, Bangkok
02 6765383
Specialist STD, AIDS/HIV clinic for gays and male sex workers in the
locality.
Chulalongkorn Hospital
Rama 4 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
TEL: (02) 252-8181-9, 256-5398
FAX: (02) 256-4410, 256-5017
Full Treatment - also HIV/AIDS conselling by specialists and HIV testing.
(Public Hospital)
Hotline Center
145/6
Soi Song Saard, Vipawadee Rangsit Road, Lard yaot, Chatujak, Bangkok 10900
Tel: (02) 279-2950, 277-8811, 277-7
Fax: (02) 291-4056, 691-4057
Providing telephone and direct counselling services
Providing knowledge on HIV/AIDS and its prevention
Providing emergency shelters for women and children infected with HIV/AIDS
Producing publication and other education media on HIV/AIDS
Thai Red Cross
Anonymous Clinic
104 Ratchadamri Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel. 02-252-2568-9
(Anonymous clinics never have any personal information about
you that can connect your test result to who you are - usually, you are
given a number on a card which you must have in order to get your test
result. “Confidential” testing assures you that your test results will be
kept confidential within that organization)
Thai Red Cross AIDS Research
Centre
104 Ratchadamri Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02-255-7334-5
Fax: 02-254-7574
Doctors without Borders/Medecins sans Frontiers
Bangkok Tel. (02) 375-6491
“We provide healthcare for people with AIDS. If you or your friend has HIV
and is ill, please contact us. Our service is free, confidential, and
friendly.”
Sangha
Metta Project
Project Manager:
Laurie Maund
Wat Sri Suphan
100 Wualai Road, Soi 2
Tambon Haiya, Muang District
Chiang Mai 50100
Tel/Fax: (66 53) 201 284
Mobile: 05 02 97971
Email:
laurie@cm.ksc.co.th
HOSPICE
Wat Phra Bat Nam Phu
Is an Aids hospice in Lopburi province for HIV-positive patients with Aids
virus disease that operates without financial support or access to
specialized doctors, morphine, X-rays or lab exams.
Fr.
GIOVANNI CONTARIN
Camillian Social Center
1/1 soi Kiri
HuaePong
Rayong 21150 Thailand
tel. +66-38685480
fax +66-38687480
email:
cscrayon@loxinfo.co.th
Baan
Peuan Cheewit
183 Moo 4, behind Wat Mai Huay Sai,
Suthep sub-district,
Muang, Chiang Mai.
Tel. (053) 283-272 or 01-952-5944.
Phra Phongthep Dhammagaruko, a Thai Buddhist monk, established a temple
hospice for people with AIDS in the Northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. The
hospice is called Baan Peuan Cheewit [House of Friends of Life], it also
assists people with AIDS who are abandoned by their families and provides
training to families in proper care of people with AIDS.
PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS
Wednesday
Friends Club
Hotline (02) 253-2666.
Support and social organization for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Life
Giving Life Group
Pastor Apidech Chairacha
Runruang Dhamma Church,
Moo 4, Tambon Chaechang, Sankampaeng District,
Chiang Mai
Tel. (053) 880-144.
People with HIV/AIDS are organizing themselves to help one another but they
receive little help from society. The Life Giving Life Group is an
organization of People with HIV/AIDS. This group cares for more than 200
patients in Chiang Mai and Lamphun. The project is however short of funds
and needs help.
People with
HIV/AIDS Coordinating Center
Khun Prasert Dechaboon
Tel. (053) 495-571.
Life and
Hope Club,
No. 5 Soi 2 Seree 1, Seree 2 Road,
Suan Luang, Bangkok 10250, THAILAND
Tel. (02) 318-5600. Pager 152: call 472-925.
Khun Ittirak Smithsuwan is an HIV-positive person who bravely went public.
Khun Ittirak established the Life and Hope Club to dispel myths and fight
discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS.
Welcome
House
G.P.O. Box 2878,
Bangkok 10501
Tel: (02) 234-2381, 234-8258. Fax: (02) 635-0334
Contact person: Ms. Komkai Hamamool, Welcome House director
People with HIV and AIDS arrive at Welcome House rejected and scared. At
this shelter, they find a home that is welcoming and free of discrimination.
Savings account name: Catholic Mission AIDS (Welcome House)
Savings account number 031-3-07241 (-7)
Bank name and branch: Thai Danu Bank, St. Louis Hospital Branch
MEDICINE BANK
New Life
Friends Center
9/57 Suthep Road,
Tambon Suthep,
Chiang Mai 50200
Tel./Fax: (053) 808-233
Founder: Khun Samran Takan
In 1998 the government stopped subsidizing virtually all AIDS drugs. This
group of people with HIV/AIDS in Chiang Mai organized an AIDS medicine bank
to help each other get access to the ex-pensive lifesaving drugs.
Savings Bank account name: New Life Friends Centre
Bank account number: 504-022863-6
Bank name and branch: Bangkok Bank, Suthep Road, Chiang Mai
HIV/AIDS NGOs
Thai
Youth AIDS Prevention Project - Chiang Mai
P.O. Box 287,
Chiang Mai 50300
Tel. (66-53) 220-924
E-mail: tyap@loxinfo.co.th
Hours 09.00-24.00. Northern Thailand is hardest by HIV. This nongovernment
agency, set up in 1995, targets young people for its HIV-prevention programs.
Duang
Prateep Foundation
Lock 6, Art Narong Road, Klong Toey,
Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel. (02) 249-4880, 249-3553, 671-4045(-8).
Fax (602) 249-5254
E-mail dpf@internet.ksc.net.th
Web: http://www.capcat.ksc.net/org/duang.html
The Duang Prateep Foundation has numerous development and assistance
programs in Bangkok slums, and your support and donations will be used well.
Their AIDS Project work combines AIDS education with caring for people who
are suffering from AIDS related illnesses. AIDS education is targeted at all
sectors of Bangkok slum society and at sex workers living and working around
Bangkok slum communities.
Community AIDS Care Project
NorthNet Foundation
225/112 Sintana Village, Moo 2,
Tambon Sanpranate, Amphoe San Sai,
Chiang Mai 50210
Tel: (053) 380-566
Contact persons: Ms Siriphan Garagate
or Mr. Pasakorn Intoo-Marn
This NGO coordinates rural programs to assist people with HIV/AIDS in
Thailand’s Northern region, which has been the most affected by HIV/AIDS.
Health
Hotline Fund
Tel: 01-978-2127 or 01-606-5347.
Contact person: Dr. Boonriang Chuchaisaengrat.
Phuket Island’s health chief, Dr. Boonriang Chuchaisaengra, set up a fund to
battle HIV/AIDS with education and the bigotry that comes from
misinformation; to tackle wider social problems, such as poverty and
prostitution; and organizes people for mutual support.
The
Sangha Metta Project
Mahamakut Buddhist University, Lanna Campus,
Wat Chedi Luang Worawiharn,
103 Phra Pokklao Road, Muang District,
Chiang Mai 50200
Tel: (053) 814-405
Fax: (053) 278-551
Email: laurie@cm.ksc.co.th
Contact person: Mr. Lawrence Maund
Buddhist monks are both spiritual and community leaders in Thailand. They
can play a significant role in supporting people with HIV/AIDS. The Sangha
Metta Project encourages monks to offer practical and spiritual help to
people with HIV/AIDS and to assist their communities to be more
understanding and caring.
Pearl S.
Buck International (Thailand)
6th Floor, Interlife John Hancock Bldg.,
364/30 Sri Ayudhaya Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400
Tel: (02) 642-6357 (-8)
Fax: (02) 642-6359
Under the auspices of the Pearl S. Buck International association, a group
of people with HIV and AIDS work to support others with the virus and
spreading the important safe-sex message.
Contact person: Khun Yowalak (Thiarachow) Tatichotioan.
WOMEN
Thai
Red Cross Save A Child's Life for AIDS Project
1871 Rama IV Road,
Bangkok 10330.
Tel. (66-2) 256-4107-9. Fax. 254-7577.
The Thai Red Cross Society helps provide HIV-positive pregnant women a free
AZT, which will dramatically reduce the newborn's chances of getting HIV
from their mothers. Baht 50 (US$1.35) means one day's dose of AZT for one
woman.
Ban Huay
Sai Ruam Jai
58, Moo 6, Ban Doi Siew,
Huay Sai, San Kamphaeng,
Chiang Mai 50130
AIDS Widows struggle to make ends meet and are oppressed by social
discrimination. Ban Huay Sai Ruam Jai (The Huay Sai Togetherness House)
helps them.
Contact persons: Mrs Surapi Panchote or Mrs Urai Fonchan
CHILDREN
Estimates are that by the year 2000 Thailand will have over 120,000 AIDS
orphans.
The Sem
Pring-puangkeo Foundation
in Bangkok and Chiang Mai distributes donated funds that sponsor the
education of orphans whose parents or guardian died of HIV. Financial needs
for sponsoring a small children can range from Baht 3,000 to Baht 5,000 baht
a year (US$81 to $135) and for older children Baht 4,000 to 6,000 baht a
year (US$108 to $162).
Sem Pringpuangkeo Foundation's Children Fund
219/28-31, Asoke Tower Building, 9th floor,
Sukhumvit 21, Bangkok 10110.
Tel. (02) 260-0229. Fax. (02) 260-2606.
Contact person: Khun Somporn Pinaksornskul.
Sem Pringpuangkeo
Foundation's Children Fund
225/164 Baan Lomnam, Moo 2,
Chiangmai-Lampang Road,
Tambon Nongpueng, Sarapee district,
Chiang Mai 50140.
Tel. (053) 423-862. Fax. (053) 438-017.
Sem
Pringpuangkeo Foundation
300/301, Grand Ville Village,
Chiang Mai-Hang Dong Road,
Chiang Mai 50200.
Tel. (053) 805-838, Tel./fax (053) 807-220.
AIDS
Babies Center
41/2 Bumrungburi Road,
Tambon Prasing Muang,
Chiang Mai 50200
Mailing address for AIDS Babies Center:
Care Corner Thailand
P. O. Box 38 Prasing Post Office
Chiang Mai 50200
Tel./Fax : (053) 278-176
Founder: Ricky Tan
HIV-infected children are likely to die young, but a group of caregivers in
Chiang Mai help ensure these babies' short lives are filled with love.
The
Agape Home
101/22 Chiang Mai-Lamphun Road,
Tambon Nonghoy, Muang district,
Chiang Mai 50000.
Or
P.O. Box 95,
Chiang Mai 50000, Thailand.
Tel/fax (053) 800-946.
THE AGAPE HOME in Chiang Mai provides love and care to many HIV-positive
babies. Donations and volunteers are needed.
