THAI NEWS AIDS 2004

Aids awareness campaign launched - - December 26, 2004

PATONG: Over 30 people attended the launch of the “Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) Project”, an Aids awareness campaign aimed at increasing condom use among male sex workers in Patong.

The seminar, held at Patong Hospital yesterday morning, was organized jointly by gay advocacy group the Rainbow Sky Organization of Thailand and Thai Red Cross Aids Research Center.

The main target of the awareness campaign will be male prostitutes working in the Patong nightlife industry.

Dr Praphan Phanuphak, Director of Thai Red Cross Aids Research Center, presented the results of a random sample of 400 male prostitutes working in Bangkok. The recorded incidence of HIV infection among them, he said, had risen to 27%, up from just 10% from last year, and increase of 170%.

Dr Praphan explained that unlike the US, where most men who have homosexual relations tend to be exclusively gay, in Thailand there is a high rate of bisexuality. Many men who have sex with other men are also involved in heterosexual relationships and risk spreading the virus to their wives and children.

He noted that although most men understand that they can protect themselves with condoms, few actually do so. He said his research showed that only about 20% of men who engage in homosexual sex use prophylactics.

“It’s easy to educate people, but far more difficult to actually get them to wear a condom. Since there is no way we can prohibit men from having homosexual sex, we must increase condom use,” he said.

He called for cooperation from entertainment venues by instituting a “no condom, no service” rule, similar to one that has been successfully implemented in Ratchaburi Province.

Dr Praphan also called for better cooperation from the government, noting that there has been reluctance by some agencies to address the problem head-on for fear of damaging the country’s reputation.

An official from the Phuket Provincial Health Office revealed that 90% of people who are HIV-positive in the province contracted the virus sexually.

Patong Hospital Director Dr Taweesak Netwong reported that his hospital is treating a total of 150 Aids patients, half of whom contracted HIV through unprotected homosexual sex. About 9% of the hospital’s Aids patients identified themselves as prostitutes, both male and female. There are about two or three Aids patients treated being on an in-patient basis on any given day, he said.

Satasorn Buapha, a member of the Phuket Gay Club, noted the irony that many gay men were “brave enough” to engage in unprotected sex – but were too afraid to get tested for the virus.

Aids is as much a threat as ever  - December 2, 2004

World Aids Day yesterday was commemorated on a sober note, just as it has every year since this disease befell humankind with its deadly effects in the early 1980s. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids, or, more simply, UNAids, said in its latest report that the total number of people infected with HIV, the virus causing Aids, has increased worldwide to about 40 million from 35 million just three years ago. As many as 3.1 million people have died from Aids this year alone.

In his message delivered on the occasion of World Aids Day, UNAids executive director Peter Piot specifically drew attention to women and girls who, he said, are most vulnerable to the Aids scourge. "Today," he said, "the face of Aids is increasingly young and female. This has profound implications - we will not be able to stop the epidemic unless we put women at the heart of the response to Aids."

Dr Piot called upon governments around the world to pay more attention to the plight of their women and girls, to do the best they possibly can to prevent them from infection with HIV, and to ensure that they have access to treatment in the sad circumstance that they contract the disease. He suggested access to better education and female condoms, and the empowerment of women to own and inherit property in the belief that women who are economically self-sufficient are far less vulnerable to HIV. "Millions upon millions of lives can be saved if we can do a better job preventing HIV among women and girls".

The UNAids executive director is spot on about the threat posed to women by the deadly disease. Many women cannot even decide when and with whom they have sex, let alone successfully negotiate condom use. In India, for example, 90% of HIV-positive women are married and monogamous. Women account for 62% of infections in the 15-24 year old age group in South Asia.

Here in Thailand, although new infection cases are thankfully on the decline, the infection rate among youths is increasing. This is cause for real concern and should serve as a wake-up call for everyone concerned to step up activities to stem and then reverse this worrying trend.

Despite promises made by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to the 15th World Aids conference held in Bangkok in July to cope with the scourge of Aids, little has actually been done. For instance, the promise that anti-retroviral drugs would be covered by the 30-baht health scheme has yet to be honoured. Even more disappointing, there have been cutbacks in funding for the free condom project, putting those who cannot afford this protection at much greater risk of infection.

The lack of concern among the authorities is lamentable, but more disturbing is the seemingly growing complacency among the general population about the continuing threat of HIV/Aids. The government is partly to blame for this. It is not doing enough to focus people's attention on the disease and its deadly threat, particularly the attention of our adventurous and promiscuous young.

To begin with, a campaign is needed to educate the young on HIV/Aids and its dangers, and how to protect themselves. This is essential if the rising infection rate among the young is to be arrested. Another crucial task for the government is to resist attempts through bilateral trade agreements by some foreign-based pharmaceutical companies to extend the patents of anti-retroviral drugs.

Dr Nafis Sadik, a special envoy of the UN secretary-general on HIV/Aids, warned at a regional conference this week that Asia-Pacific societies could collapse - like some already have in Africa - if they fail to control the disease. Although Asia-Pacific is 13 years behind Africa, she said "all the conditions are in place for a general outbreak in Asia-Pacific in the next 10 years". To avoid the realisation of this prophecy here in Thailand and elsewhere, there must be no let-up in the war against HIV/Aids. There must be no complacency.

HIV/AIDS: Campaigns to focus on infection among young - December 1, 2004

Although new HIV cases are on the decline, there is mounting concern that the rate of infection among young people and women is rising and the health ministry has said this will set the future direction of its Aids campaigns.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said yesterday that global surveys over the past five years had found more youngsters and women were infected with the HIV virus and in Thailand their numbers had risen by 17%.

She said 70,000 young people are now infected and most are girls and young women aged from 15-24.

Therefore, new Aids campaigns would turn to youth and women and focus on the use of condoms that could guarantee against infection, she said.

"In our culture, it is difficult for girls to carry condoms [with them] so girls are victims in general. Everyone must help to protect girls and teenagers from infection," Mrs Sudarat said.

The annual Aids infection rate in Thailand has declined from 100,000 to 21,000 and the Public Health Ministry hopes to curb this to 17,000 next year.

Mrs Sudarat said anti-Aids medicines would be included in the government's 30-baht medical care scheme and researchers were coming up with new types of medicines for patients where the virus was becoming drug-resistant.

The government will guarantee all patients access to Aids drugs, she said.

For World Aids Day today, the ministry will launch campaigns and activities at the National Stadium and Siam Square. Mrs Sudarat led celebrities distributing condoms to cabinet ministers at Government House yesterday.

Sex education gets revamp: 2,000 schools to join new scheme next year  - November 30, 2004

At least 2,000 schools across the country will next year be selected to join the Education Ministry's new project to develop a new way to give students proper sex education.

The ministry admitted that teaching sex education as part of the general curriculum proved a total failure.

After three years of implementaion, most schools still could not do it right, said the ministry's permanent secretary Khunying Kasama Varavarn at a workshop on sex education.

There were frequent reports of sexual harassment against girls in primary school from the fourth to sixth grades and indecent sexual behaviour among students in junior secondary schools, she said.

A good sex education programme must be constructive, beneficial to students and acceptable to their parents, she said.

At least 2,000 primary and secondary schools nationwide will be selected next year for the project to develop a new model for teaching sex educationn, Khunying Kasama said. Executives and teachers of participating schools will be trained on how to give proper and effective sex education.

"We want every district to have from two to four primary and secondary schools that serve as model schools for sex education," she said. "They should have teachers who can teach sex subjects with clear understanding about the problems faced by students."

The ministry will seek help from sex education experts, including the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health, or PATH which is a non-profit, international organisation dedicated to better public health.

Programme contents should focus on proper roles of men and women, their values, physical changes experienced by the young, and self-care tips.

Khunying Kasama said the ministry expects to expand the project to cover 10,000 schools in two years. These model schools would help coach the remaining schools. Currently, the ministry runs more than 20,000 primary and secondary schools.

Khunying Kasama said intensified sex education should begin with 4th-6th grade students since schoolboys in these levels tend to harass their female peers.

Also, improper sexual behaviours were found mostly among junior high school students, she quoted a study by the Public Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, the two ministries will join hands to teach students about safe sex practices and how to avoid unwanted sex and related diseases, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said.

Their cooperation was prompted by a survey by the Public Health Ministry released yesterday which showed the majority of teenage girls in the country tended to ignore safe sex practices.

The survey showed 70% of teenage girls agreed to having sex without condom.

The survey conducted among 6,730 teenage girls found that about one-fifth of the respondents had had sexual affairs, 70% of them without any means of protection. Of the total, 7% had their first sexual experience before they were 15.

Also, it was found that one-fourth of the respondents had changed sexual partners more than twice in one year.

Mrs Sudarat said teenagers and women will also be the main focus of the Public Health Ministry's campaign marking World's Aids Day this year.

She said the HIV infection rate had dropped among sex workers but was increasing among teenagers, most of whom were still in school.

Of 40 million people living with HIV/Aids worldwide, 12 million are young people and more than half of the infected are women aged 15-24, according to the World Health Organisation.

More vigorous effort urged in Aids fight  - November 26, 2004

The United Nations Development Programme wants more a vigorous effort from the government to alert young people about the dangers of HIV/Aids.

Hakan Bjorkman, deputy chief of the UNDP in Thailand, said the government needs to do more to instil knowledge about the disease and measures to prevent infection.

The call comes after a survey revealed that almost 70% of Thais wanted Aids education to begin as early as primary level.

The survey, by Bangkok University, sought the views of 7,500 Thais nationwide. "Aids education ought to be a consistent part of the school curriculum from primary through secondary level, when student risk behaviour tends to increase," the survey report concluded.

Suchart Wongsuwan, director of the Bureau of Academic Affairs and Educational Standards, said pupils learned about the epidemic as early as Prathom 1 while studying the nature of dangerous communicable diseases.

They started with basic information and teachers taught them more in later stages, including how Aids developed, prevention measures, risk groups and campaigns against the virus, he said.

The information passed on in class came from the Public Health Ministry and other agencies fighting Aids.

In the survey, 60% of people said the government was not doing enough to stop Aids, consistent with complaints by several Aids campaigners in recent weeks.

They felt the government was being complacent after a good start initially, when new infections were reduced from 143,000 in 1991 to about 20,000 last year.

In the survey, nearly 80% of people aged 15-25 said they did not believe they were at risk of infection, in line with a previous UNDP study this year showing only one-fifth of young people used condoms consistently.

"That's worrying," Mr Bjorkman said.

Teenagers are deemed a high-risk group because of their reluctance to use protection during sex.

Politicising of health is a harmful prescription  - November 24, 2004

When the Sars epidemic was circling the globe, the World Health Organisation purported to be leading efforts to treat the disease. But the WHO was reluctant to send staff to hard-hit Taiwan, due to its extensive ties with China.

For the WHO, politics was more important than health. Taipei is not a member of the WHO because most nations, including the United States, formally consider it to be part of China. And China objected to any WHO teams travelling to Taiwan.

With no thanks to the WHO or Beijing, Taiwan avoided a disastrous outbreak.

Unfortunately, like most United Nations agencies, the WHO's activities have long been captive to a highly political agenda. For instance, earlier this year the organisation claimed that a third of childhood deaths in Europe resulted from environmental causes.

environment'. Out of 100,000 total deaths, 75,000 were caused by accidents." The rest, most in poorer countries such as Russia and Turkey, largely resulted from problems like malaria, poor sanitation and dirty water.

But the facts did not stop the WHO. It was particularly upset about the presumed threat of global warming, which, it claimed, would result in "more widespread and severe" deaths.

Yet, Mr Hanekamp and Mr Morris archly observe: "No scientific evidence was offered to support these claims - perhaps because none exists."

Nevertheless, the WHO is advancing its Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe which proposes more regulations over technology, such as fossil fuels, pesticides and plastics. The result would make us all poorer, yet wealthier societies are better able to prevent and treat illness.

For instance, the pesticide DDT is one of the most effective means to kill mosquitoes, which spread malaria. Important medical devices are made from plastics.

The WHO is ignoring problems that today kill millions while fretting over worst-case scenarios for the future that are unlikely ever to occur. Simply providing clean water and improving sanitation would do more to help Third World people than would most of the WHO's highly-publicised initiatives.

The organisation has advanced the "Roll Back Malaria" programme, along with Unicef, the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development. Unlike global warming, malaria does kill. Yet the WHO has been distributing two drugs which are no longer effective in Africa.

Moreover, complain Robert Bate and Richard Tren, respectively a British and a South African health-care analyst: "Roll Back Malaria partners are unwilling to fund interventions that work but upset environmentalists, such as indoor insecticide spraying."

It was widespread outdoor use of DDT years ago that had adverse environmental consequences; poor nations throughout Africa and South Asia are begging for assistance to undertake carefully targeted use indoors.

It's hard to know if anyone died because the WHO kowtowed to Beijing rather than cooperate with Taipei. But failing to fund effective anti-malaria measures does kill.

Equally important, organisation missteps involving the treatment of Aids have harmed untold numbers of poor people in poor countries. The WHO actually has impeded the distribution of effective medications.

Treating Aids is one of the organisation's primary responsibilities. Yet earlier this year the WHO was forced to remove foreign copies of patented Aids drugs by the Indian firms Cipla and Ranbaxy from its list of pre-qualified medicines. In November Ranbaxy pulled its remaining seven antivirals from the WHO programme.

As millions have suffered and died of HIV/Aids, political activists worldwide have attacked the drug-makers. Yet without research-driven pharmaceutical companies, we would still live in the pre-1987 world when there was no treatment for Aids and the diagnosis was a death sentence.

Rather than pay for innovative new drugs, the WHO has promoted foreign knock-offs. Alas, the copies could not be certified as biologically equivalent or safe.

Thus, the WHO has endangered the very people it was supposed to be helping. The inadequate drugs risked encouraging the Aids virus to mutate into strains resistant to all medicines. Moreover, diverting treatment dollars into inferior pharmaceuticals reduced the financial incentive for drug companies to develop newer and better products.

It is an appalling record, one of "bad decisions, missed deadlines and bogus Aids drugs", complained Waldemar Ingdahl, director of Eudoxa, a Swedish think tank: "Africans and the poor should not be treated with bad medicine."

The WHO has gone badly astray. Director-General Lee Jong-wook, chosen less than a year ago, must put good health before bad politics. Only then will the WHO live up to its promise, promoting health rather than harm.

** Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington DC. He was a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and is the author and editor of several books.

There's a lot more Thailand could be doing for Africa - November 24, 2004

 Thailand has spoken of working more closely with Africa in all sorts of areas but has yet to take advantage of the many opportunities that exist

The Thaksin government needs to match its words with deeds after its promise of technical assistance and cooperation to African states under the South-South cooperation banner.

But perhaps Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had forgotten that his foreign minister, Surakiart Sathirathai, was to proclaim 2004 Africa Year when he told the Beijing-sponsored Boao Forum in April - in explaining the relevance of the Thai-created Asia Cooperation Dialogue - that while Latin America has the United States to stand by its side and Africa has Europe, Asia must stand on its own

Whatever the case, Mr Surakiart is hoping to make amends - in a speech delivered in French, no less, which is seen by some as an effort to woo the the world's 53 Francophone nations (and three states) as part of his bid for the post of secretary-general of the United Nations when it falls vacant in 2006.

The minister and his staff have been working to get closer to Burkina Faso in West Africa and he has secured a seat as a guest of the host at the 10th Francophone summit currently taking place in the capital Ouagadougou.

Mr Surakiart is attending the ministerial meeting today but not tomorrow's meeting of national leaders. But it is still hoped he will be remembered by the Africans for future purposes.

The minister had also planned to attend the African Union meeting, also in Ouagadougou, in early September, and his ministry even distributed a press release proclaiming his presence would be of historic significance as Mr Surakiart would be the first representative from Asia to attend an AU summit.

The trip was cancelled at the last minute, reportedly due to rumours of a cabinet reshuffle after former chit fund operator Ekkayuth Anchanbutr threatened to name an unusually rich minister whose name begins with the initial "S". Although he could not attend the meeting, Mr Surakiart's statement on sustainable development was distributed to those at the meeting.

Burkina Faso a few months earlier was one of several African nations to endorse Mr Surakiart's hosting of a ministerial meeting among members of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue and the New Economic Partnership for African Development, the new integrated Africa vision for democratic and market-led economic growth.

Mr Thaksin himself has also put off several scheduled visits to Africa with the excuse that his crowded domestic and international calendar did not permit such a trip.

Asda Jayanama, the outspoken former Thai ambassador to the UN, said it was unfortunate that this government's early policy of building solidarity among developing countries as a bargaining tool with the richer Western bloc had not been pursued more wholeheartedly.

Thailand should be part of a multilateral framework in which it can call on the backing of African or Asian colleagues if so needed, Mr Asda said. But with any interest shown to Africa just part of building support for Mr Surakiart's UN ambitions, there is unlikely to yield satisfactory benefit in terms of tangible cooperation.

The ministerial conference on Alternative Development Sufficiency Economies held in Bangkok from Nov 8-10 and attended by 22 Africa countries, Iran, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China and Thailand's neighbours is being hailed by the Foreign Ministry as a success despite its heavy price tag and the tiring schedule for the majority Muslim delegates because of the Ramadan observance.

The high point for most delegates was an audience with His Majesty the King and the opportunity to see how His Majesty's subsistence philosophy has been put into fruitful effect in many parts of the country.

Follow-up activities are now needed, said a staff member of a multilateral body.

The Foreign Ministry's aid agency arm, the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency, or TICA, is struggling to justify its budget request this year of 400-500 million baht and to give substance to the government's emphasis on Africa.

TICA, formerly the Department of Technical Economic Cooperation, has had around 20 million baht a year for scholarships and training for overseas visitors here, with the Africa quota included. Concrete activities are being identified by TICA and countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Uganda in key areas such as agricultural development, crop substitution for opium, public health, HIV/Aids, sanitation and education.

"We are now planning for outbound services, which are less expensive than bringing in trainees and are more practical due to real implementation with wider coverage," said TICA deputy head Apinan Phatarathiyanon.

Due to limited human and financial resources, the technical assistance can only be offered to states where the Thai private sector is active in fisheries, gem mining, construction and tourism.

Business talks with government backing are to be re-invigorated, and not only in tourism-heavy countries like South Africa and Mauritius. Also, official requests for Thai peace-keeping troops would be explored, one observer said.

Cooperation will be looked at with France, a key player in half the African continent, and Japan, an advocate of the UN-supported New Economic Partnership for African Development through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development since 1993, multilateral organisation sources said.

India is also a major investor from Asia in Africa, followed by Malaysia, China, Korea and Taiwan, with annual average foreign direct investment from 2000-2003 of $408 million (16.28 billion baht), $263 million (10.49 billion baht), $47 million (1.88 billion baht), $11 million (438 million baht) and $10 million (399 million baht), according to the Nov 1-2 Tokyo International Conference on African Development Asia-Africa Trade and Investment Conference in Tokyo.

Gradually, a few Thai companies are taking an interest in Africa including Thai Acrylic Fibre, which invested four billion baht last year in Egypt, and Thai Carbon Black, which is investing 520 million baht in a plastics and rubber project also in Egypt.

Japan, over the past 10 years, has injected 480 billion baht in overseas development assistance into African infrastructure development, agriculture, water, education, health and medical care, and debt reduction.

India has extended 40 billion baht in technical assistance and has pledged a $200 million (7.98 billion baht) credit line under the New Economic Partnership for African Development plus $500 million (19.95 billion baht) for West Africa alone and another $1.5 billion (59.9 billion baht) for HIV/Aids in Africa.

Malaysia has also played a major role on its own and with the Tokyo International Conference on African Development by setting up the Asia-Africa Investment Technology Promotion Centre in Kuala Lumpur in August 1998, hosting the first Africa-Asia Business Forum in 1999, and hosting the Asia-Africa Public-Private Joint Forum in May this year.

Beijing, like India, has its own path into Africa. The ministerial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was first held in Beijing in October 2000 with a high-level follow-up committee chaired by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

China sent its first-ever peacekeeping troops under the UN banner to Congo and Liberia, and in June 2002 signed debt exemption protocols with 31 African nations cancelling 156 debts with a total value of 10.5 billion yuan (50.62 billion baht). Its bilateral trade with the continent grows year by year. In 2003 it reached $18.545 billion (739.9 billion baht), an increase of 49.7% over the previous year and approximately 75% over 2000. Beijing also boasts that 44% of its total foreign aid goes to Africa.

As Africa-veteran ambassador Shinsuke Horiuchi, adviser to the Japanese foreign minister, put it: "You should not expect them to pay back with immediate political support, say for Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. It's a bit of a costly investment.

"But we have a human obligation to stand by this long neglected continent, and true sincerity will certainly trickle down to a decent effect in the long-term."

Report: More younger girls risk infection - November 24, 2004

More female teenagers are at risk of HIV infection due to more liberal attitudes towards having sex at much younger ages with different casual partners and not using protection, a Public Health Ministry report released yesterday said.

Sombat Thanprasertsuk, director of the Aids, Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Bureau, said changes in female sexual behaviour had alarmed health authorities.

"Despite the country's success in reducing Aids among sex workers, pregnant women and in the military, it's worrying that HIV has emerged among females and youngsters who are now at the heart of the epidemic," he said.

The latest report on HIV infections was a survey conducted in June of 6,700 female students aged 15-24 in 24 provinces, including Bangkok. It found 1,448 admitted they were already sexually experienced.

Among this group, 33% were unprepared for their first sexual liaison and up to 500 were forced by their partners to have sex the first time, mostly with older men. Up to 80 female students admitted to having more than 20 casual partners.

Dr Sombat said the results should be a wake-up call for health authorities to focus more on females and the younger generation to come up with methods to deal with this increasingly high-risk group.

Meanwhile, the United Nations agency fighting Aids said that in many parts of the world, but particularly Asia, more women than men are getting the disease as it has spread beyond brothels where most infections occurred 12 years ago.

Women also have higher rates of infection than men because it is easier for them to contract HIV - the virus that causes Aids - through heterosexual intercourse, the latest global HIV status report published yesterday said.

Around 2.3 million out of the 8.2 million people currently living with HIV in Asia are women - an increase of 56% since 2002. Nearly 50% of the 39.4 million people infected with HIV worldwide are women, according to the report.

The disease has claimed about 540,000 lives in Asia so far this year.

The higher number of women living with HIV/Aids proves the abstinence, being faithful and condom use (ABC) prevention approach was now inadequate for people living in developing countries, said Swarup Sakar, a UNAids official responsible for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Although US$6.1 billion (244 billion baht) has already been spent on tackling the problem this year, more funding is necessary for communities around the world to deal with the HIV epidemic before the situation worsens, he said.

The UNAids report also cautioned that while countries such as Cambodia, Burma and Thailand were hit early by the epidemic, others - including Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam and China - are only beginning to see the disease spread rapidly and must begin prevention efforts.

Aids has now been detected in all parts of China, spreading mainly through intravenous drug use and prostitution. It is also frequently transmitted sexually from injecting drug users to their partners.

In Burma, a large percentage of injecting drug users have become infected with HIV, with as many as 78% testing positive in some areas of the country last year.

In India's Tamil Nadu state, about half of the sex workers have been found to be infected with HIV.

But Bangladesh, East Timor, Laos, Pakistan and the Philippines have very low infection rates and could still thwart serious outbreaks, the report said.

Programme teaches juvenile offenders about 'facts of life' - November 24, 2004

Young and wild at age 19, Jack never cared about the feelings of girls he had sex with until he attended the Ban Kanjanaphisek Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre sex education programme.

"Before, I just thought of sex as fun. When my friends persuaded me to sleep with girls, I never said no just to prove I was cool. I never cared how the girls would feel," he said. "But sex education has taught me to respect their rights and learn more about their feelings."

Jack was first sent to Ban Karuna Remand Home for Boys on a physical assault charge. After two months there, he was sent to Ban Kanjanaphisek in Nakhon Pathom, where he was given the chance to participate in the programme.

The programme is part of the Teenpath Project run by Path, an international organisation that works towards HIV/Aids prevention with government and non-governmental organisations.

It was started in October last year with the training of teachers and introduction of sex education in about 130 schools in 12 provinces. Two juvenile observation and protection centres have taken part in the pilot project, including Ban Kanjanaphisek for boys and Ban Pranee for young female offenders.

Jack said sex education taught him a lot of things he never knew before, including how to wear condom correctly.

"Before, I just knew it was a condom, but I didn't know how to wear it or how to tear the wrapper to prevent the condom from being damaged," he said.

Sex education also taught him about safe sex and women's issues such as the use of contraceptive pills and sex during menstruation.

The course taught him that sex during menstruation could be harmful, both for him and his partner, as they could more easily infect one another with diseases.

Jack said the sex education programme also reduced the knowledge gap between young detainees and their teachers. Since the teachers were open to every topic about sex, youngsters felt they could talk and ask for advice on every problem.

Tai, a young female detainee at Ban Pranee, said sex education also taught her to become wiser about boys.

"I always believed whatever my boyfriends said. Girls fall madly in love and trust boys to be honest to them. But sex education made me aware that's not true. Some boys just want fun," she said.

Registration of Thai Aids drug planned in US  - November 23, 2004

Thailand will register the medical formula of a locally-made Aids drug in the United States in a bid to produce medicine for HIV-positive people in developing countries under the US President's Emergency Plan for HIV/Aids Relief (PEPFAR).

Tongchai Thavichachart, director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO), said yesterday the state enterprise under the Public Health Ministry was in the process of registering the formula of GPO-VIR S-30, a low-cost Aids treatment pill, with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), so that it could produce the drug for export on a par with the USFDA standards.

The GPO would also send a team of officials to discuss the matter with the USFDA on Dec 7, he said.

At the International Aids Conference held in Bangkok in mid-July, the US administration stated its intention to buy low-cost anti-retroviral pills from Thailand for patients in developing countries under the PEPFAR programme.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said she hoped the US agency would quickly approve the Thai proposal.

She said her ministry would speed up the opening of a new state pharmaceutical factory to increase GPO-VIR production capacity so as to meet an expected rise in demand once the US gives the Thai medicine its stamp of approval.

"It is good news for Thailand that our anti-Aids drugs will contribute huge benefits for HIV-positive people in the global community as soon as the US government approves the medical standard for GPO-VIR," the minister said.

Washington has launched a US$15 billion (600 billion baht) fund for PEPFAR to help curb HIV infection and assist people living with HIV/Aids in 14 afflicted countries in Africa, the Carribean and Vietnam.

However, Samlee Jaidee, an adviser to the Drug Study Group, questioned the Thai and US governments' actions on the distribution of Aids drugs when only around 50,000 out of the 120,000 people living with HIV/Aids in Thailand had access to anti-retroviral treatment.

She also said the US government was being hypocritical in seeking low-cost drugs for HIV-positive people in developing countries.

It should instead be providing them with brand-name drugs produced by US-based pharmaceutical companies.

Ads infection details for Apec: Bangkok asked to present details of its experience in fighting the disease to Santiago siummit  - November 21, 2004

Thailand will raise Aids infection problems at the 12th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Santiago, Chile, says Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin said on yesterday's Prime Minister Thaksin Talks to the People radio programme, taped before he left for the Apec summit, that Chile as host of the Apec Summit 2004 had asked Thailand, which hosted the Apec Summit 2003 and the 15th World Aids Meeting last year, to present information about Aids problems under the concept of One Community Our Future.

Under this concept, all Apec member countries were considered a single community and should discuss issues important to their economy including human security, terrorism and diseases, and find how developed countries could help developing countries just as they did last year during the bird flu outbreak in Asia, he said.

Other issues expected on the agenda of this year's Apec summit included free trade, the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of trade talks resuming next month in Hong Kong, oil prices, and a proposal to form the Asia Bond as Asia's new financial structure.

Mr Thaksin gets back from Chile on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said the Santiago Commitment and Plan of Action would include a pledge by Asia-Pacific leaders to fight corruption and terrorism, and pledges on energy and life science cooperation.

Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) were still divided on whether security issues should overshadow the economics-oriented talks, especially concerning the topics of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), portable anti-defence systems, and the UN protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Apec foreign ministers agreed that commitments to deal with those issues should be non-binding and countries should be left to decide whether to adopt or ratify the protocols, said spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkaeow.

The Apec ministers also discussed Apec reform, which was mentioned at the Bangkok summit last year. Proposals to hasten the Bogor Declaration would be tabled.

The Santiago Commitment and Plan of Action to be announced by leaders today has also been discussed and was likely to include a pledge against corruption, good governance in government procurement.

It would also include cooperation to fight terrorism, and on energy and life science, including development of drugs for longer life expectancy.

Govt drug spending 'wrong'  - November 20, 2004

Consumer activists yesterday urged the Public Health Ministry to stop making cosmetics and focus more on developing drugs that keep people alive.

The Foundation for Consumers, the Aids Access Foundation and the Thai Holistic Health Foundation issued a joint statement calling on the ministry to stop advertising babyface and breast-firming creams produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO), an agency under the ministry.

Officials are planning to sell the GPO beauty products at the aerobics festival at Sanam Luang today.

"The ministry fails in its mission to produce low-cost, medicinal products so people can have access to quality drugs. Those cosmetics can make huge profits, but cannot bring real benefits to people's health," said Rossana Tositrakul, chairwoman of the Thai Holistic Health Foundation.

Nimit Tien-udom, chairman of Aids Access Foundation, said the ministry should spend more of its research and development budget on drugs to treat Aids and cancer, from which many Thais suffer, resulting in the government's huge bill for imported drugs.

"About 120,000-140,000 people have HIV/Aids but only 50,000 of them are given access to antiretroviral treatment. But public health administrators are focusing on producing beauty products instead of essential drugs," he said.

GPO director Thongchai Thavichachart said the state-owned enterprise was allowed to produce products for profit, such as the babyface and breast-firming creams, but these did not account for all research and development spending. The ministry would spend 70 million baht on anti-Aids drugs and vaccines, he said, adding the budget also included herbal products so that not only HIV-positive people but other Thais could gain access to low-cost pharmaceuticals.

THAILAND: Women Make Up 60 Percent of Thailand's Young HIV Patients -  November  16, 2004

Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said about 70,000 Thais ages 15-24 have HIV and 60 percent are young women, The Nation newspaper reported today. The minister voiced concern regarding the trend toward earlier sexual experimentation among youths who do not fully understand the potential consequences of their actions, noting that 8 percent of Thai females below age 20 said they were forced into their first sexual experience. Nine percent of girls ages 15-19 admitted to having sexual relations, the minister said. Thailand has had more than 1 million known HIV/AIDS cases since 1984, when its first case was detected.

THAILAND: Thai Government Says Free Trade Agreement Not to Hamper Access to Cheap Anti-AIDS Drugs - November 16, 2004

Thai patients' access to cheap AIDS drugs will not be impeded by free trade negotiations underway with the United States, Thai negotiators said Tuesday. "Our position is clear, we will not sacrifice human health for trade benefits," said Wiboonlasana Ruamraksa, deputy director-general of the Intellectual Property Department, according to the Bangkok Post. Thailand will stick to the World Trade Organization framework as the basis for negotiations, she said.

In the run-up to the next round of Thai-US trade talks, scheduled for Dec. 13-17, some have worried over a growing push by the United States for more protection of its intellectual property rights. The United States wants data on the drugs and other high-tech products it exports to Thailand to be protected longer than the global trade agreement allows.

Sureerat Treemarka, a member of the Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, strongly opposes the five-year extension on patent protection and the strict control on medicine data. The monopoly of US drug firms, she said, will increase the suffering of the poor in developing countries. At a Monday meeting organized by the AIDS Access Foundation, activists and patients expressed fears that the agreement could harm their access to low-cost AIDS drugs.

Thailand's HIV/AIDS Cases Surpass 1 Million  - November 15, 2004

Thailand has recorded more than 1 million confirmed HIV/AIDS cases during the past two decades, of whom an estimated 430,000 have already died, Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said today. Some 70,000 of the current HIV/AIDS cases are among people ages 15-24, and women comprise 60 percent of those cases, said Sudarat. "The main factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS among youths is sexual relations before marriage without protection," she said. Sexual behavior, particularly among young girls, has changed in recent years with some 9 percent of girls ages 15-19 acknowledging they have had sexual relations, Sudarat noted. "The boys just do it because they want to experiment, but the girls are doing it for love," she said. The Health Ministry is planning to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 with several activities and programs aimed at young people.

Safety first for migrant sex workers - November 10, 2004

Thai and Canadian social activists have joined hands to launch a project to promote HIV/Aids prevention among migrant sex workers.

Sue M Carey, director of the Canada Southeast Asia Regional HIV/Aids Project (Csearhap), said there was a lack of control and prevention of the disease among local and migrant sex workers, particularly those from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Two provinces with high numbers of alien workers - Prachuap Khiri Khan and Trat - were selected for a pilot study for the four-year project.

Also helping in the project, funded by the Canadan International Development Agency (Cida), was the Raks Thai Foundation.

Initially, it was found that migrant workers in the two provinces belonged to a high-risk group.

"The project is aimed at promoting better understanding among sex workers about the disease in order that they may protect themselves," Ms Carey said.

However, she said it was agreed that it would be best for these vulnerable workers if the economy in their countries were strengthened so they would have no need to leave their homeland for work.

The project, initiated at an international conference in Bangkok in 2002, was a shift from a medical approach to a safe mobility approach which was billed as a way toward sustainable HIV/Aids prevention.

David Patterson, a project consultant, said it was hoped the project would enable sex workers to protect their own rights.

"These people should have the right to better education and a decent job. We would seek cooperation from state agencies in carrying out the work. " Mr Patterson said.

A fund would be sought for health insurance for the workers.

SEX EDUCATION: Students dislike textbook studies  - October 28, 2004

Students want sex education which deals with real life issues, not theory, a seminar on sex education courses was told.

Praewpilas Ruangthong, a youth representative from Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani, said sex education should give youngsters more than what is written in textbooks.

"We want to learn something close to our lives, such as how to deal with unwanted pregnancy, and about abortion. Many girls are afraid to tell their parents or teachers when they become pregnant, so they talk to their friends and often opt for abortion," said Ms Praewpilas.

"What we are taught is theory, but we want something we can apply to real life. It's no use talking about where the ovary is, or what it does. Why not teach us how to have safe sex?" she said.

Youngsters also wanted to know how to protect themselves when having sex, how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, how to cope with sexual desire, and how masturbation could help.

Girls also want to know what boys are thinking, how to take care of their sexual organs, how to use condoms, what oral sex is like, HIV/Aids, respect for partners' rights, and same-sex lovers.

The youngsters suggested teachers find other teaching materials such as VCDs or models of sexual organs to show how to use condoms and practise safe sex.

Youngsters wanted teachers who were not embarrassed to answer questions about sex.

Teachers should create a friendly atmosphere to encourage young people to talk freely.

"Schools should also invite parents, doctors, NGOs and health officials to speak," she said.

Sophon Thongpat, a teacher from Bang Kapi School, said the demands showed sex education in schools had not responded to student needs.

He believed sex education courses would be more effective if teachers and students tuned in to each other, and made courses responsive and comfortable for both sides.

German faces deportation from Thailand in HIV rown - 2004-10-17  

A one-legged German who is at the center of a mass HIV scare involving hundreds of Thai women and girls faces deportation from the country, officials said yesterday.

Hans-Otto Schiemann, 54, told AFP he was confirmed with the HIV virus three years ago, and health officials said he could have had unprotected sex with up to 400 people.

Schiemann, who boasted of being like "heroin to girls," posed such a health threat that authorities printed banners and thousands of flyers warning students away from him.

He was arrested for overstaying his visa and faces deportation at a court hearing on Monday, but Thai officials said they were powerless to take action over allegations about his sexual conduct.

Other countries, including the United States and Britain, have prosecuted men who have had unprotected sex knowing they had the virus but the scale of the case in Thailand has shocked officials and the community.

In a 30-minute interview with AFP in a prison meeting room, Schiemann - married to a Thai woman for five years who is now ravaged with AIDS - complained of being persecuted.

"They persecute playboys here like Hitler persecuted the Jews," said Schiemann, who showed no remorse about continuing to have sex with women.

"I got it (HIV) three years ago, I didn't have it when I first came here," he said, adding it was "not important in my body."

He declined to go into more details about his sexual campaign other than saying: "I am heroin to girls."

Aids drug access boost in two years: Will be supplied here, overseas  - October 3, 2004

Thailand's promise to offer locally-made anti-Aids drugs to 300,000 HIV-positive people here and overseas will be met in two years, an official of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation said.

Isaraet Gosriwatana, the GPO international sales manager, said production capacity would be expanded to cover the target number of patients after a new state drug factory opens in 2006.

"We have enough capacity to give more people access to low-cost anti-Aids drugs within two years," he said.

The state enterprise under the Public Health Ministry can now make GPO-VIR, a generic version of three combination medicines, for 50,000 local HIV-positive people.

The drugs, which cost 1,200 baht a month, are distributed to poor patients upcountry under a pilot project.

The government will distribute more anti-Aids drugs to HIV-positive Thai patients and those in neighbouring countries, with Burma and Cambodia topping the list.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra promised delegates at the XV Inter-national Aids Conference in July to provide ARV drugs to other countries.

In the next financial year starting in October, about 100,000 Thais will get access to the drugs under the universal health care scheme.

Last month the ministry handed out GPO-VIR to 200 patients in Burma, starting a three-year trial, and one million condoms worth 10 million baht to fight the spread of HIV along the border.

The government was also seeking ways to override drug patents through compulsory licensing provided under the World Trade Organisation's agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

The GPO has sent to cabinet a proposal to adopt compulsory licensing for two drugs, Kaletra and Efavirenz, needed during the second regimen of antiretroviral therapy. If the proposal is approved, generic versions would cut costs to patients by as much as 80%.

But Jiew Premchaiporn, an advocacy team leader of the Aids Access Foundation, said activists were sceptical about the government's promise of cheaper drugs.

They are worried Washington might demand protection of intellectual property rights including patent law during bilateral trade talks with Bangkok.

Drug patents could restrict Thailand's opportunity to exercise compulsory licensing, affecting local generic ARV production and poor people living with HIV/Aids in the long run, she said.

Amal Naj, Pfizer country manager representing the drugs industry in Thai-US free trade negotiations, said protection of intellectual property rights was essential to ensure the continued development of new HIV/Aids drugs.

"We have to invest US$500 million-800 million a year to research and develop the next generation of ARV drugs. It's not cheap," he said.

"No matter how low we bring down the price, poor people can still not afford the drug."

Mr Naj, however, insisted the company was willing to work with any government on access to its products.

Sudarat pledges Aids drugs: Health authorities say disease rife on border  - September 23, 2004

Thailand yesterday pledged to give Burma anti-Aids drugs and condoms, worth 10 million baht, to help combat the spread of HIV along the border.

The aid, promised in talks in Rangoon between Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and her counterpart Kyaw Myint, consists of GPO-VIR pills produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation for 200 patients, mostly hilltribe villagers, for a three-year period and a million condoms.

"Apart from showing leadership and commitment in tackling the deadly virus, Thailand's resources can also be used to assist HIV/Aids patients in our neighbouring country," said Mrs Sudarat, who is due to return to Bangkok today.

Cooperation with the Burmese government also includes a health care programme aimed at fighting elephantiasis, malaria, meningococcal meningitis and tuberculosis, in addition to Aids, diseases that plague the 2,401km-long border.

Thai health authorities believe Burmese immigrants have spread infections to Thai villagers along the border, mainly in Tak and Kanchanaburi.

The ministry, meanwhile, will renew a plan to seek financial support from the Global Fund and the World Health Organisation to continue providing generic anti-Aids drugs and developing infrastructure in Burma.

The Global Fund had earlier declined to give billions of baht to the government due to its failure to clarify the importance of its efforts to initiate joint cooperation with the Burmese government or show how the funds would be used to curb Aids along the border.

Petchsri Sirinirund, the Disease Control Department's senior expert in preventive medicine, said the ministry was amending its proposal and will ask the Global Fund to reconsider its decision during the fifth round of funding talks expected to take place next year.

More details need to be included before the plan is proposed again and the ministry remains convinced of the long-term benefits of the plan to HIV/Aids patients in Burma, Cambodia and Laos, she said.

Swinging sex trend raises HIV worries  - September 18, 2004

Swinging sex has become increasingly popular among Thai teenagers in big cities, raising concern about high HIV infection rates among youngsters.

Boonyong Vechamanesri, deputy secretary of the National and Social and Economic Development Board, said swinging sex was gaining in popularity among teenagers and young people in big cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Many youngsters aged 15-23 liked to swap sex partners. Such care-free sex has sparked concern that the HIV/Aids infection rate among Thai youths could rise dramatically and pose a serious threat to the well-being of society.

He said many boys and girls were found to have had sex since their school days.

In 2001, a survey had found that Thai youths were having their first sexual experience when they were around 16-17 years old. In the 2002 survey, it was found that they were doing the same thing when they were only 13-14 years old.

The situation has worsened today as children as young as 9-10 years old were having sex, he claimed.

He said a change in attitude toward safe sex was a contributing factor. Statistics from the Public Health Ministry showed that 97% of men visiting brothels used condoms. However, only 24% of men who had sex with self-employed prostitutes used condoms.

Patent law change urged: Generic drugs sought for HIV/Aids patients - September 13, 2004

The National Human Rights Commission and Aids advocacy groups have urged the government to speed up patent law amendment, or issue an executive decree to ensure better access to anti-retroviral treatments for people living with HIV/Aids.

The groups said the government should change the law so it complies with the Aug 30, 2003 Doha Declaration on Trips (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and Public Health.

In November 2001, the WTO ministerial conference in Doha allowed governments to override patents through "compulsory licensing" or "parallel imports" as provided for under Trips.

The declaration pointed to a final hurdle: the effective use of compulsory licensing by countries unable to produce their own drugs.

The Doha meeting removed this obstacle by agreeing to a case-by-case system for waiving the export limitation under Trips so countries producing generic copies of patented products under compulsory licences can export them to "eligible importing countries."

Jiraporn Limpananont, of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of pharmaceutical science, said the international mechanism already allowed developing countries to use waivers to help their people, but first a national law was needed to comply with the Doha agreement.

"The agreement was settled for a year already, yet there is no legislative move," said Ms Jiraporn. "We remind the government of its responsibility to change the law for the sake of the public."

The groups earlier proposed an amendment to article 51 of the Patent Act. If successful, Thailand would be able to import generic drugs to help treatment of Aids, cancer and heart diseases, and be able to export locally-made drugs to neighbouring countries.

"Since the prime minister made his promise to the global community that he would provide access to ARVs for all Aids patients here, and would offer help to neighbouring countries, he should do something to keep his word," said Ms Jiraporn.

About one million Thais are living with HIV/Aids, and of the 100,000 classified as patients, only about 5% receive anti-retroviral drugs.

Assoc Prof Phijaisakdi Horayangkura, of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of law, said the groups should push the government to issue an executive decree instead. The HIV/Aids problem could be considered an emergency, justifying such a short-track measure, he said.

Bid to upgrade women's status in Asia-Pacific - September 8, 2004  

With little being achieved under the goals set for women's advancement by the historic meeting in Beijing a decade ago, women and governmental leaders from the Asia-Pacific region are now mapping out new strategies to improve women's rights and status.

They are meeting at the Escap in Bangkok to appraise the implementation of the Beijing Plan of Action and their proposals will serve as a regional input for the global women's meet at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March next year.

During the high-level inter-governmental meeting, the leaders will also discuss other critical issues women in Asia and Pacific are facing. They would include the impact of globalisation on women, violence against women, trafficking of women and children, gender-responsive information society, political participation of women, and HIV/Aids.

It was quite obvious that Thailand too was not faring well in trying to meet these goals, said Suteera Thomsan Vichitraanonda, president of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women.

Thailand also lacks concrete plans to allow women to play a bigger role in parliament, local administration bodies and at other decision-making levels under the Millennium Development Goals, she said.

The progress is frustratingly slow as the government was not doing enough to improve the quality of their representation in national committees and independent organisations, she added.

According to Carolyn Hannan, director of the UN division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Bangkok meet would provide women's leaders from around the globe with a chance not only to learn more from one another but also give them the opportunity to find the most effective ways to foster a favourable environment for gender equality in the mainstream society. Some of the strategies they would discuss are partnership in regional co-operation, focus on rights, and working with men and boys.

Ms Hannan said the Asia-Pacific region needed to sensitise government officials on gender mainstreaming more through training and retraining of officials at various levels so they have awareness, knowledge, and capacity to integrate gender equality in their own work. There also should be mechanisms to ensure that good national policies are implemented to enhance women's status and rights, she said.

Aids drug may go global: US considers Thai anti-retroviral to treat Third World patie - September 5, 2004

The United States is looking to buy GPO-VIR low-cost anti-retroviral pills from Thailand for patients in developing countries under the President's Emergency Plan for HIV/Aids Relief (Pepfar).

The order has not yet been confirmed because GPO-VIR, produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, a state enterprise under the Public Health Ministry, has to pass standards set by the US Food and Drug Administration.

A team of USFDA researchers have already been here to observe quality standards of the locally-made ARV drugs, and plan at least another two visits.

But Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan is already upbeat about the move by Washington and hopes the US agency is in the process of conducting fast track approval of the standard.

"The US intention to buy GPO-VIR from us will open a new opportunity for Thailand to promote the effectiveness of our locally-made anti-retroviral therapy for HIV patients without costing them too much," she said.

Mrs Sudarat was, however, concerned that production capacity of the state drug factory might not be able to meet both local and foreign demand.

Production capacity of GPO-VIR is enough for only 100,000 local patients.

The cocktail drugs, which cost 1,250 baht a month, are being distributed to poor patients upcountry under a pilot project.

She appointed deputy permanent secretary Pakdee Pothisiri to devise a plan to increase capacity for export without affecting local demand.

Thongchai Tavichachart, the GPO secretary-general, said Washington had shown interest in using the Pepfar fund to buy low-cost medicine from Thailand during the International Aids Conference in mid-July.

The new state pharmaceutical factory, which is expected to increase production capacity of GPO-VIR, is currently under construction. It is expected to be completed by next year, he said.

The Bush administration initiated the project worth US$15 billion to prevent a HIV pandemic and assist Aids patients in 14 afflicted countries in Africa and the Caribbean.

Jiraporn Limpananont, an academic of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of pharmaceutical science, wondered if the Pepfar fund aimed at buying GPO-VIR would come with "too many strings attached".

"It's possible that Washington might use its investment in anti-retroviral therapy as part of its bilateral free trade agreement with Thailand. If the government is not well-prepared, the trade negotiation may affect our generic ARV production and HIV/Aids patients in the long run," she said.

Activists: Govt budget insufficient  - August 18, 2004

Aids activists yesterday questioned the government's intention to keep its promise to provide 50,000 patients anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment within the year, saying its 800-million-baht allocation is not enough to meet the target.

Nimit Tienudom, director of the Aids Access Foundation, voiced concern over the government's recent budget approval of the Public Health Ministry's programme to distribute ARV drugs in the next fiscal year, allocating 800 million baht for the scheme through the Disease Control Department.

At the International Aids Conference last month, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan promised to provide ARV drugs to 50,000 patients within the year.

However, Mr Numit said the approved budget would be enough to cover only about 40,000 patients. So far, fewer than 30,000 have received medication under the programme, he said.

In order to meet the target of 50,000 patients, he said, the ministry must be given additional money from the budget for fiscal 2005 starting in October.

"It's risky for HIV/Aids sufferers because once they start receiving ARV pills, they depend on them forever.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee they will get the treatment because that depends on the state's generosity," Mr Nimit said.

But acting public health permanent secretary, Charal Trinvuthipong, remained confident the ministry would be able to provide ARV pills for 50,000 HIV/Aids patients by year's end.

The government will get another 400 million baht from the Global Fund to support the programme until 2006, he said, enough to cover ARV treatment for HIV/Aids patients until they are covered by the 30-baht health scheme.

Mr Nimit also voiced disappointment over the red tape which has delayed inclusion of ARV treatment in the 30-baht health care scheme by fiscal 2005.

Sanguan Nittayarampong, secretary-general of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), said a sub-committee has been set up to push for inclusion of GPO-VIR, an ARV drug produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, and other necessary regimens in the government's health care policy.

Mr Sanguan said it is possible that HIV/Aids patients would receive medical services under the scheme by fiscal 2006.

Thai monks teaching regional brethren to fight HIV/AIDS - August 15, 2004

CHIANG MAI - His chanting and prostration complete, Lao Buddhist monk Phra Kornkan Chanthamaitry straightens his robe and prepares for the day's main task -- training to become a frontline fighter against HIV/AIDS.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground at a northern Thai temple, he joins the latest group of monks to listen earnestly as a lecturer teaches the best ways to stem the epidemic's spread in Asia.

Sex and drugs are the main topics for the monks who have been trained to renounce both. Laughter regularly punctuates their questioning.

The messages that hundreds of monks have already taken home to Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Bhutan, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam from this most unlikely of training centres are stark. If you have sex wear a condom, if you inject drugs do not share needles.

The warnings are timely. The UN warns that Asian leaders have three years to act decisively or risk the AIDS epidemic running out of control across the continent.

Of the 38 million people worldwide with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), more than seven million live in the Asia-Pacific region.

But Phra Kornkan says the biggest challenge in most communities is to overcome the stigma that has seen thousands of families reject infected relatives because of mistaken fears they will catch the virus.

"HIV is a big problem in Laos but the subject is very secretive. People feel bad about having HIV, but can't talk about it with anyone," says the 25-year-old monk.

Thailand has been widely praised for its response to the epidemic starting in the 1990s with condom promotions and public awareness campaigns which reduced new annual infections from a high of 143,000 in 1991 to 19,000 last year.

Having watched their government lead the way in Asia, the kingdom's monks are now showing that Buddhist tolerance and openness may be the best tools for tackling issues surrounding the virus on the ground.

"People in the countryside lack knowledge about HIV and don't pay too much attention to what teachers, university academics or officials tell them," says Phra Pongwat Ponyavaro, 29, who ran a bar in beach resort Pattayas infamous red-light entertainment strip before ordaining as a Buddhist monk almost five years ago.

"The people have great respect for monks so this is a great chance for us to save lives and teach people how to care for their friends and family members already infected."

Phra Pongwat says the monks also teach people how they can stay healthy until they can gain access to antiretroviral medicines. "Getting rid of ignorance is very important in Buddhism and so is compassion," says the young monk.

Laurie Maund, an Australian former monk and lecturer at Chiang Mais Mahamakut Buddhist University, began the classes eight years ago after abbots decided it would be better to reduce ignorance than take in all the patients rejected by fearful relatives.

"The classes started at the university with a small group of about 40 monks and has now moved to 10 different countries involving about 4,500 monks and nuns," says Maund, conducting the latest session at Pa Dara Phirom temple about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Thailand's northern capital of Chiang Mai.

The monks are taught a broad curriculum on the science of AIDS and take the parts of families, villagers, local politicians and people living with HIV in role-playing activities.

Monks also have hands-on field trips during the joint UN and Australian government funded project that takes them into the heart of affected communities.

"Ten years ago people were scared and thought they had something disgusting socially, but with encouragement given through the monks work they now get the energy to live a long and happy life," says Maund.

"We are expecting a group of Mongolian monks to come to Thailand in the near future. Im sure Mongolia wont be the last."

THAILAND: UN Rights Expert Criticizes Thailand over Drugs Policy  - August 05, 2004

Thailand's violent and controversial war on drugs has driven drug users underground and could result in an upsurge of HIV infections, Paul Hunt, the UN special rapporteur on health rights, said Tuesday. "I am concerned that the anti-narcotics campaign, coupled with limited access to harm reduction services, has inadvertently created the conditions for a more extensive spread of the virus in Thailand," Hunt said in a letter to the Thai government.

The government's drug war began in February 2003. Within the first three months, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), some 2,275 extrajudicial killings took place. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra blamed the deaths largely on feuding gangs. The Thai public, concerned over an epidemic of youth drug addiction, overwhelmingly supported the effort, which Thaksin officially ended in December. At last month's 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, HRW said Thailand has up to a quarter of a million IV heroin users.

In his letter, Hunt cited data showing the number of IV drug users seeking treatment had dropped significantly in the last year. Concurrently, HIV rates within this high-risk group stayed "unacceptably high" at 50 percent, he said. Hunt also expressed concern over the "alarming number" of HIV/AIDS patients subject to discrimination in the health care system. "If true, such human rights violations will deter people from seeking health services," Hunt noted.

Hunt continued with praise for the government's commitment to provide all HIV patients with free antiretroviral treatment but reminded the government of its promise to treat IV drug users as patients rather than criminals.

"We don't consider drug addicts as criminals, we encourage them to seek rehabilitation," affirmed foreign ministry spokesperson Sihasak Phuangketkeow, adding that the drug war allegations were "unfair and unfounded."

Thais urged to cut down on drinking .

Easy availability of alcohol and changing lifestyle make Thais the fifth-largest consumers of alcoholic drinks worldwide

Unsafe sex blamed for tourists' STDs: Report: Some get HIV travelling in Thailand  - July 24, 2004

A senior health official blamed unsafe sex by foreign tourists for a news report that many young tourists, particularly those from Britain and Germany, went home with sexually transmitted diseases (STD), including HIV.

Charal Trinvuthipong, acting permanent secretary of public health, said the government was already providing free condoms in about 60,000 places which offered sexual services.

Also, a campaign has been actively conducted to raise public awareness about protective measures in a bid to curb sexually transmitted diseases, Mr Charal said.

A report said 69% of British-born men with heterosexually acquired HIV were infected through sex while abroad, as were a quarter of women.

"Of these men, 22% were probably infected in Thailand," the report said.

A study was done between 2000 and 2002 of STD infections, such as syphilis and HIV, in young travellers and sex tourists.

Moreover, a study of male German sex tourists in Thailand showed that most were aged 30-40, single, with well-paying jobs.

Of these people, only 30%-40% used condoms, the study showed.

However, Dr Charal said many of those travellers ignored safe sex practices.

"They might have had sex, without protection, with risk groups such as teenagers and those outside sex services. Such groups still had low protection rates."

After all the talk, there's work to do  - July 23, 2004

The row over drug patents was possibly the most contentious at the 15th International Aids Conference co-hosted last week by Thailand and the International Aids Society. The heat might now have cooled, but the fire will burn on as long as the pharmaceutical giants charge so much for patented medicines in a world where some four million people live with HIV/Aids.

The conference enabled antagonists to spell out their arguments. Drug companies reiterated the need for patents to fund their investments in research and development. One executive put the onus on public institutions as well as the private sector to help poor countries through financial and technical assistance. The strongest argument from the critics may have been that new discoveries are of little use to companies if the sufferers, their market, cannot afford them.

Governments were encouraged to override patents through compulsory licensing, as provided for under the World Trade Organisation's agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or Trips. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra promised to explore the possibility of using this window a week after he had vowed to resist any bid for excessive protection of patents in negotiations started last month on a free trade pact with the United States.

Though the promises so far have found more sceptics than believers, civil society should see to it that the prime minister honours his word. An estimated one million Thai nationals are living with HIV/Aids, and of the estimated 100,000 classified as patients, only about 5% receive anti-retroviral drugs.

In November 2001, the WTO ministerial conference in Doha reaffirmed the need to apply the Trips agreement in a manner supportive of members' right to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all. The Doha Declaration on the Trips Agreement and Public Health said each member enjoyed "the right to grant compulsory licences and the freedom to determine the grounds upon which such licences are granted". The declaration pointed to a final hurdle: the effective use of compulsory licensing by countries unable to produce their own drugs. A meeting on Aug 30 last year removed this obstacle by agreeing to a case-by-case system for waiving the export limitation in Trips so that countries producing generic copies of patented products under compulsory licences can export them to "eligible importing countries".

A subsequent UNAids report noted that no country had so far used the waiver system, although Malaysia and Mozambique had announced they were issuing compulsory licences for some HIV anti-retrovirals. In Thailand, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation has forwarded to cabinet a proposal to use compulsory licensing for two drugs needed in the second regimen of anti-retroviral therapy: Kaletra and Efavirenz. If the proposal is approved, generic versions of these drugs would reduce patients' costs by as much as 80%.

The patent law and trade concerns seem to be causing the government to procrastinate. Amendment of the patent law would appear the easier obstacle to clear. Things are more difficult with the trade concerns as the United States is a major trade partner and last year pronounced Thailand a major non-Nato ally.

FTA Watch, which has suggested that the US might demand a protection period of 25 years - five more years than under Trips - for drug patents, is expected to continue its crusade against any sale of sovereignty to the US. The NGO will have been emboldened by the UNAids observation that trade agreements between the US and Colombia and the US and Chile, as well as the Central American Free Trade Agreement, were "overly" protective of patents

And now to action!: There will be few people completely satisfied with the outcome of last week's Aids conference in Bangkok. This could change, of course, if the ideas being bandied about are translated into tangible progress - July 21, 2004

The streamers and balloons have come down; the party is over. It's time to convert the fine statements made at the 15th International Aids Conference into something more substantial.

Last week saw 17,000 people gather in Bangkok to put their heads together to solve the global HIV/Aids crisis. The message heard over and again throughout the six-day conference _ from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to former South African president Nelson Mandela to celebrities like Richard Gere _ was the need for serious leadership and more money if HIV/Aids is ever to become a blight of the past.

But by the time the curtain came down on the meeting on Friday evening, there remained no clear sign of a unified commitment between leaders or an increase in funds to help turn the tide on the pandemic, which is on the rise across every region of the world.

The UN secretary-general showed disappointment in the effort. ``Where's the global solidarity to tackle HIV/Aids?'' he asked before comparing the sum committed to fight international terrorism, which threatens thousands of lives, to that set aside to combat HIV/Aids, which has already killed millions.

The key message on the need to build closer working relationships between governments, private enterprise and grassroots communities to confront the deadly virus was in fact a reiteration of statements made two years ago at the 14th International Aids Conference in Barcelona.

Joep Lange, president of the International Aids Society, a co-organiser of the event along with the Thai government, claimed much progress had been made despite the absence of a declaration of a unified programme between national, scientific and community leaders to give direction in tackling HIV/Aids problems.

``Never before has the role of leaders been so widely discussed as at the Bangkok conference,'' he said. ``The convention in the past brought together just scientists and community leaders to talk about Aids and its prevention. This year was the first time national leaders have become involved. It matters and could prove that solutions to HIV/Aids are on the right track.''

A political push is needed not only in countries with the highest incidence of HIV/Aids but also in the United States and the European Union states as major donor countries. The US came under fire over its drug-funding policy, which is based mainly on bilateral deals, and for preferring abstinence over the use of condoms as a means to prevent the spread of the virus.

Randall Tobias, head of the US Aids Coordinator, argued that his country's contribution to fighting Aids more than equalled that of the rest of the world combined and so he ruled out any increase in donations to the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The biggest achievement of the conference may have been the wake-up call to the need to prevent the further transmission of the virus in Asia and to treat those living with Aids in the world's most densely populated region. This was the first time these issues had taken centre stage, according to Mr Lange.

The need for access to drugs, as at all past conferences, was a central plank of the meeting, hence the theme: Access for All. The price of anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV/Aids has fallen significantly in recent years, but they still remain beyond the reach of millions, mostly in poor developing countries. The row over patent and intellectual property rights continued to rage and the pharmaceutical giants were again portrayed as the bogeymen.

The least successful element of the conference was the scientific track, since no new vaccine or drug breakthrough was provided. With little new data presented, attention fell on long-term prevention approaches and investments in basic infrastructure which could make a real difference in the fight against Aids over time.

Women and children are increasingly falling victim to the virus and condoms are not always an option the women's partners are prepared to consider. A call for a serious look at microbicides as an avenue for protecting people from the virus received a strong voice.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as leader of co-host Thailand, promised more low-cost anti-retroviral medicines to people living with Aids and urged the leaders of other countries to do likewise.

But his promise to launch a harm-reduction, or preventive, programme could come back to haunt him. His government has yet to figure out how to translate his words into action and it became a target of activists during the conference who condemned the government's violent war on drugs waged last year for driving users underground and making HIV more difficult to control.

Sombat Thanprasertsuk, director of the Disease Control Department's Bureau of Aids, Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Infections, said the government understood the problem and was more open to allowing people living with Aids and the Thai Drug Users' Network a voice at the conference.

However, he was not sure if the public would accept the call for the distribution of clean needles and methadone as most people still consider the taking of drugs illegitimate. Pushing the idea at the wrong time would only produce a negative response, he said.

On the other hand, Dr Sombat said people living with Aids and the Thai Drug Users' Network should be happy with the progress that has been made and the continuing activities and campaigns to develop public acceptance of the issues one step at a time.

Perhaps the most important task for the government after this conference is to review its education policy and provide a stronger approach for children to learn about Aids. ``The country's record on reversing the spread of this epidemic can no longer guarantee fruitful progress in combating the virus as long as a stronger education programme and the prevention of Aids among the public is lacking,'' Dr Sombat said.

Nimit Tien-Udom, director of the non-governmental Aids Access Foundation, said a committee should be formed to bring together government, medical researchers and community workers to speed up efforts to tackle complicated HIV/Aids-related problems.

Without significant progress in backing the commitments given at the conference, Mr Nimit said, many millions more may become infected with HIV/Aids before the next International Aids Conference convenes in Toronto in two years' time to rehash the same old issues.

THAILAND: Thai Hotel Accused of HIV Discrimination Ahead of AIDS Conference - June 18, 2004

Thai AIDS activists said Thursday a Bangkok hotel engaged in discriminatory practices against HIV-positive people just three weeks before 20,000 delegates and world leaders will arrive in the city to attend the 15th International AIDS Conference. Staff at the four-star Prince Palace Hotel moved HIV-positive people who were at an HIV/AIDS conference it hosted this month to an isolated, single floor and cordoned off a dining area away from other hotel guests, said activists.
"This is not the first time this has happened," said Nimit Tienudom, director of the AIDS Access Foundation. "We have to accept that there is still discrimination against AIDS patients," said Nimit, adding that the incident indicates the government has failed to effectively inform the Thai public about HIV.

Sombat Thanprasertsuk, director of the government's Bureau of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Infections, said he was informed of the hotel's actions. "There are some people who don't want to be involved with AIDS patients because they don't understand the disease," Sombat acknowledged. "If the hotel discriminated like that, then we have to tell them there is nothing to be concerned about" when interacting with HIV- positive people.
In a statement Thursday, the hotel conceded it had moved the delegates all to one floor after discovering some were HIV- positive. "People who complain should think of the staff's human rights too, and ways they can protect themselves," said the hotel. In addition, "The hotel and the organizer agreed that both people with HIV and conference staff were to stay on the same floor for the convenience of taking care of guests and the convenience of [hotel] staff," it said. Hotel management acknowledged that some staff may have acted inappropriately to delegates due to what it termed "a lack of information."

Debilitating diseases the key problem: Road deaths and Aids are the biggest kill - June 15, 2004

Despite the overall decline in the number of people falling sick over the past 10 years, Thais are now more likely than ever to suffer from debilitating health problems, according to the Thai Health Report 2003.

The report, released yesterday, listed four major chronic illnesses affecting the population - respiratory, muscular and bone, stomach, and heart and artery diseases.

This is the first annual health report specifically published for the benefit of the general public. The report was conducted by Mahidol University's Population and Social Research Institute, with support from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.

Asst Prof Vasana Im-aim, a contributor to the report, said the death rate has risen, particularly among men. The two leading causes of death are HIV/Aids and road accidents.

Contributory factors to road accidents are speeding and driving without safety belts or crash helmets. A report last year stated that only 14% of motorcyclists wore helmets.

The disability rate over the past 10 years has remained stable. The number of disabled people last year accounted for 1.7% of the population, with the most common disabilities being paralysis and mental retardation.

Malnutrition has been on the decline but Thais are more likely than ever to suffer from over-consumption, while the problem of food being contaminated with chemicals or germs remains for the most part unsolved.

As for drinking, smoking and drug habits, the report concluded that young people have become the new target of tobacco and alcohol industries, resulting in a continuous increase in the number of young smokers and drinkers over the past five years.

Attitudes to safe sex are also worrying. People are having sex at much younger ages, with the use of condoms still unpopular. About 9% of women aged 15-19 had undergone abortions.

Exercise has become more popular among younger people, but the rate remains low for the elderly and workers.

Mental health problems are soaring but they receive little attention from the authorities. More people are suffering from depression, with the suicide rate on the increase.

Asst Prof Chuenruthai Kanjanajitra of the Population and Social Research Institute, said the report touches on the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of the population, with the aim of increasing people's ability to take care of themselves.

"We want Thais to be aware that their health is something more than just being sick," said Ms Chuenruthai.

Aids vaccine put to the test: Thailand is focus of world's biggest trial  - June 8, 2004

The international community is hoping the phase-3 HIV/Aids vaccine trial in Thailand, the world's largest experiment, will lead to a new and effective treatment method for those suffering from the virus.

Disease Control Department director-general Charal Trinvuthipong said yesterday that of 6,000 volunteers, 4,000 had so far been injected with the vaccine.

The trial aims to involve about 16,000 volunteers in two eastern provinces of Chon Buri and Rayong, who will be given either a vaccine or a placebo over a one-year period, to be followed up for three years.

The US-sponsored Aids vaccine trail started in Thailand last September.

The so-called prime-boost test combines two vaccines: Alvac, which was created by France-based Aventis Pasteur, and AidVAX B/E, which is made by the California-based VaxGen Inc, to stimulate different systems of immune response simultaneously.

In previous human tests, one vaccine failed twice and the other's usefulness in stimulating the immune system is not known. The authorities hope that putting the two together might be an effective alternative to HIV/Aids control.

Dr Charal said the department would continue with the experiment because a vaccine made from the virus E subtype was the most prevalent strain in Thailand.

The progess of the phase-3 trial would also be discussed at the International Aids Conference held in Bangkok from July 11-17.

Local, int'l groups set up `help' project: Community urged to get more involved  - June 1, 2004

The city administration, international organisations and NGOs yesterday launched a project to encourage community involvement in the care of Aids patients in Bangkok.

Under the "Partners for Health" project, community members, Aids patients and their families will be trained as volunteer workers to provide counselling as well as home-based medicare, including follow-up visits - a process to ensure Aids patients will continue to take their medicine.

Joining the project are the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Public Health Ministry's Disease Control Department, Thailand Business Coalition on Aids (TBCA) and the Centre for People and Families Affected by Aids.

City clerk Khunying Nathanon Thavisin said emotional support from society and families is as important to patients as access to medicine.

While patients have little problem getting access to GPOVIR, a low-cost Aids drug cocktail produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, there are still many who quit treatment due to lack of support and understanding from their families and society.

Under the project, TBCA - a coalition of high-profile local and transnational companies in Thailand - will create markets for products made by families of HIV/Aids patients.

Chawin Sirinak, director of the city's Aids Control Division, said a pilot project launched last August at the city-run Nong Chok Hospital was a success. The number of Aids patients taking anti-retroviral cocktail there rose from six to 40, he said.

Aids patients at the hospital were more open and not reluctant to let others know they had the disease. "They've become optimistic and agreed to receive the medicine regularly," he said.

Govt 'well placed' as development partner: Time to turn the page on conventional role  - May 27, 2004

Thailand is in a unique position to be a "partner for development" with Africa but it should turn the conventional aid recipient-donor relationship into a mutual study of each other's failures and successes, said a senior UNDP official.

Ravi Rajan, officer-in-charge of a UNDP Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, said Thailand could be a strategic partner for African diversification. This has been taking place in recent years as more Asian countries including China, Japan and Malaysia were engaging in the continent's social and economic development integration.

Thailand's position was unique due to its medium size and experiences relevant to Africa, especially in areas of developing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and curbing HIV/Aids, Mr Rajan said at the Consultation on Africa-Thailand Partnership for Development organised by the UN Development Programme and the Foreign Affairs Ministry's Technical and Economic Cooperation Department.

The entrepreneurial class is expanding in Africa and the continent is trading more with Asian countries, while the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) initiative is a new impetus for economic and development integration, the New York-based officer said.

Despite certain encouraging developments and similarities, Africa and Asia have yet to overcome limitations in communications with each other.

Africa itself has yet to address the challenges in infrastructure development and good governance to accommodate the surge of cooperation with Asian countries, he said.

Samual Nyambi, regional manager of UNDP South Africa, said a recent historic revamp of African political institutions from the older African Union to Nepad had helped provide new strategic visions to embark on the UN Millennium Development Goal and pave the way for new cooperation with Thailand and the rest of Asia.

However, Mr Nyambi suggested that there was a need to explore new means of cooperation in order to go beyond a traditional fellowship or training programme.

Robert England, the UNDP resident representative in Thailand, suggested that developing a Thailand-Africa partnership had to be strategic and result-oriented in nature.

"A few flagship initiatives or projects need to be identified, instead of spreading yourselves too thinly across many sectors and many countries, or engaging in ad hoc and isolated initiatives without really making any difference in the end," he said.

The ways the countries cooperated needed to be innovative and cutting edge to enable two-way sharing of knowledge, rather than one-way training activities and transfer of technology, he said.

Activists to say 'no' to drug patents in FTA: Claim US will profit to detriment of poor  - May 27, 2004

Health activists are to use the International Aids Conference in Bangkok to drum up opposition to the inclusion of drug patents in a free trade agreement (FTA) between Thailand and the US.

Health advocates in Thailand and other countries worry that any agreement could include drug patents to protect the lucrative US pharmaceutical industry, diminishing the chances of patients on cheap medication in poorer countries successfully fighting their illnesses, especially those with diseases like Aids.

If successful in their negotiations with Thailand, they say the US might also use the same tactic with other developing countries.

Donald de Gangne, co-chairman of the community programme for the event, said yesterday that international activists at the meeting to be held from July 11-16 will show resistance to any attempt to include pharmaceuticals in the FTA discussions.

Thai and US negotiators will begin discussions to formalise the agreement next month in Hawaii.

The US administration has put protection of intellectual property rights high on its list of priorities.

The activists do not want to see the issue included in the Thai-US agreement and in future deals between Washington and other developing countries, Mr de Gangne said.

Local and international Aids activists will mainly discuss the FTA and its impact on HIV/Aids treatment access at the so-called Global Village, a related-community programme that allows the public to share its views on the subject in an open forum.

They also plan to rally against the FTA and urge international government leaders to make a commitment and come up with concrete action for comprehensive medical treatment for Aids patients and prevention for high-risk groups such as sex workers.

The international conference on Aids is expected to draw over 20,000 participants to evaluate the global performance in the battle against HIV/Aids and set out future policy direction.

Joep Lange, co-chairman of the convention, emphasised that better access to treatment for Aids patients and preventative measures were key in bringing down the number of new cases.

According to UNAids, about 14,000 people are infected each day by the virus globally, mostly in poor countries.

Sombat Thanprasertsuk, a senior Public Health Ministry official, said Thai health officials would benefit as they would be able to exchange opinions with international Aids experts.

NGO sets out US$1bn plan for Asia over next 10 years: Birth registration key to rights, says group  - May 27, 2004

Plan International, one of the world's largest community development organisations, will spend up to US$1 billion (40 billion baht) to help children and their families across Asia over the next 10 years.

It will put an initial sum of $58-60 million into the region this year, of which $4 million will go to Thailand.

Giving details yesterday, John Greensmith, Plan's executive director, said the aim was to give children a chance to develop into healthy, educated and responsible adults.

Plan's projects were designed to allow children and communities to participate.

"It's not that we give and anybody receives. We always work in partnership, and local communities are also owners of the projects," said Michael Diamond, regional director for Asia.

Plan International runs in 45 developing and 15 developed countries worldwide, and gets 80% of its funding from 15 donor countries. In Asia, it has programmes in 12 countries.

In Thailand, Plan has run projects since 1981, working with the government and non-governmental organisations. It has projects in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Maha Sarakham, Nong Bua Lam Phu and Si Sa Ket provinces, with about 22,000 sponsored families.

Suchada Khreusirikul, operations support manager of Plan Thailand, said the focus had shifted from overall development of life quality to issue-based projects for disadvantaged groups.

For the next 10 years, Plan Thailand would focus on HIV/Aids projects, natural and sustainable agriculture, community capacity building, education reform and child protection with special emphasis on birth registration. Mr Greensmith said birth registration is the starting point for any children and community development projects.

Children without birth registration enjoyed few legal rights, which would hold back their development.

"After working in many countries, we realised that many children we helped do not exist officially because their births were not registered," he said.

More than 40% of children born worldwide do not have their births registered. The figure for Thailand is unknown.

One of Plan International's missions is to ensure the government has the capacity to provide registration for newborn babies, and that parents themselves understand the value and importance of birth registration.

In Thailand, Plan has been pushing for more birth registration of hilltribe children in Chiang Rai.

The government had responded well, Mr Greensmith said.

Thai Aids cocktail for poor nations: 3 million condoms to be distributed free  - May 25, 2004

Thailand plans to give Burma, Cambodia and Laos enough doses of GPOVIR, a cocktail of anti-Aids drugs, to treat about 30,000 patients as part of efforts to increase access to Aids drugs for poor countries.

The plan will be proposed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during the International Aids Conference in Bangkok during July 11-16.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said at present Thailand had an oversupply of the pills produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, as domestic demand was being met for its 70,000 patients. Thailand plans to increase its production capacity to treat around 200,000 patients next year, she said.

The cheap pill, used by HIV-positive patients for anti-retroviral treatment, is being distributed through state hospitals across the country under a ministry programme to curb the virus.

Mechai Viravaidya, Bangkok senator and family planning campaigner, said Thailand was the first country to distribute the drugs free of charge to other countries and hoped to set the stage for other countries with similar capacity such as Brazil, India and South Africa to join the scheme for better access to anti-Aids drugs around the world.

The ministry will use the opportunity to host the international conference to push for a decrease in the number of new Aids cases from 21,000 in 2002 to 17,000 by the end of this year, said Charal Trinvudhipong, the Disease Control Department's director-general.

About 140,000 Thais were found infected with the virus in 1991, but the number of new Aids cases had since dropped. The same trend was also found in the number of deaths from the disease and the transmission of HIV/Aids from mothers to babies.

The ministry attributed the decline in HIV/Aids infection to its continuous efforts to give access to anti-retroviral treatment.

Around three million condoms will also be distributed free of charge during the conference and condom vending-machines will be installed in men's toilets, factories and department stores to promote its use, Mrs Sudarat said.

Sureerat Treemanka, a member of Access to Aids Foundation, an advocacy group, however doubted the convention would benefit Aids patients and community networks.

"Instead of wasting billions of baht on an extravaganza, the government should spend the budget more on the thousands of poor Aids patients in the country to gain more access to the anti-virus drugs," she said.

Unhappy about a US$1,000 (40,000 baht) registration fee reguired for the meeting, non-governmental organisations will set up a "Global Village" in front of the venue to allow public communities to share their views, she said.

The local Aids community networks would also focus on Thai reactions to a free trade pact with the United States on intellectual property rights, which could raise the price of anti-Aids drugs.

School opens door to HIV students: Children with disease embraced, say they hold no fear of stigma or teasing by peers - April 11, 2004
 

Gift gives a bright smile when she talks about school. That is not common for an 11 year-old child, and rarer still for one living under the shadow of Aids.

Her school, Ban Huarin, in Sanpatong district of Chiang Mai, is known for its child-friendly environment. It is friendly not only to healthy children, but also to those affected by HIV/Aids.

Gift was born to an HIV-positive mother who died when she was five. Gift said she suffered no stigma at school, from teachers or parents. She was more than welcome at Ban Huarin. "School is fun. I have many friends. They are nice and the teachers are kind," said Gift. Nobody mentioned her mother's death. She has not been tested for the virus, and the school does not seem to mind. What is understood is that Aids is not easily transmitted, and that healthy people and people with HIV can live together.

Ban Huarin has about 200 students, nearly 10 of whom have lost both parents to HIV/Aids, while more than 20 are in the risk group. Teacher Ratree Lamnuan said Ban Huarin started the child-friendly school project in 1999 with support from Unicef.

The project was aimed at creating a school system that is "effective, efficient and healthy" for children. However, since the school was to handle many troubled children, including those born to HIV-positive parents, the project was extended to cope with that problem.

"In the past, we faced strong opposition from parents who threatened to move their children to other schools if we let HIV-infected children stay with us,"said Ms Ratree.

The school educated parents and the community about HIV/Aids. HIV-infected villagers were invited to talk to parents and children about the disease, how they take care of themselves, and how the virus could be transmitted.

After years of trying, the school says it has changed community attitudes. Most now looked at HIV-affected families with sympathy and understanding.

"HIV-affected families can be assured that their children will be treated kindly at school, and won't be teased by their peers,"said Ms Ratree.

The community is known for its care and support of HIV-infected people.

Unlike many communities where people hide their HIV status or face prejudice from neighbours, HIV-positive people at Ban Huarin can say openly that they carry the virus.

Somya Uthachan, 40, introduced herself as a founder of Prasarnjai Group, a self-help group of HIV-infected people in the village.

The group was formed in 1997. There were only five members at first, but the number has increased to 60 today, including HIV-infected women and their relatives.

Ms Somya says the group members meets every month to share their problems, and counsel each other. "We want our members and community people to know that HIV-infected people can live longer with proper treatment and care. Infected people do not have to die,"said Ms Somya.

Members of the group make money from cloth weaving, sewing, and artificial flowers for funerals.

Members get partial payment for the goods they work on, with the rest going into group savings, which amount to more than 100,000 baht now.

Buapin Chaima, 54, who joined the group after her sister died of HIV/Aids several years ago, said she was now fighting for her niece, who also has the disease.

"I felt good when I joined the group. There are good friends who make me feel like I'm no longer alone in this world," said Buapin.

Tuberculosis on rise amid drug resistance - Thursday, March 18, 2004

The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in Thailand is becoming critical with infections showing increasing drug resistance, the Public Health Ministry warned yesterday.

Charal Trinvuthipong, director-general of disease control, said inconsistent treatment was the main obstacle controlling the spread of the disease.

Treatment should start within two months of the symptoms developing, and patients must take daily medication for at least six months.

There were about 80,000 people known to have TB, with about 50,000 patients being treated.

Thailand ranks 17 out of 22 countries where the TB problem is considered critical, according to the World Health Organisation.

To mark World TB Day on March 24 and to commemorate Her Majesty the Queen's 72nd birthday, the ministry plans to identify and provide treatment to at least another 72,000 tuberculosis sufferers this year.

Dr Charal said health officials would identify TB sufferers, particularly among the migrant workers and people with HIV/Aids, so they were provided with appropriate treatment.

Chaivej Nuchprayoon of the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Thailand said problems of drug resistance caused by irregular consumption of medicines was observed among 2% of new TB patients. In addition, as many as 20% of the patients who had been under treatment faced problems of drug resistance because they did not take the medication regularly.

The association estimated there were 37,000 new TB patients in the country each year, with 17,000 deaths.

Chanchai Khumphong, deputy director of the city health office, said problems in administering to TB patients in Bangkok were higher than in other provinces because of the different medicines prescribed by doctors at different hospitals.

"There are more than 100 state and private hospitals in the city area and sometimes doctors like to try out new medicines," he said.

"This could lead to drug resistance because the patients need to take the drugs for a full six months in order to be cured," he added.

Another problem was that most city hospitals faced staff shortages and were as a consequence unable to follow up on their patients.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's health.

UNAids speaks out over 2nd crackdown: 'Rehabilitation of addicts more urgent'  - March 11, 2004

The UNAids organisation has expressed concern over the second phase of the government's war on drugs, saying more attention should be paid to the rehabilitation of addicts, many of whom carry the deadly disease.

UNAids deputy executive director Kathleen Cravero raised the issue during a meeting on Tuesday with Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana.

She also called for authorities to make a clear distinction between traffickers and users.

"With the launch of the crackdown on drug traffickers, the outreach programmes to the drug users should also be made clear and intensified, so that they're not targeted," she said.

The government came under fire from the United Nations over its initial crackdown, which left more than 2,000 suspects dead, many in confrontations with police.

Though she was assured by the minister the war would focus exclusively on traffickers, she felt the government should implement equally high-profile measures on rehabilitating drug addicts and preventing HIV/Aids among users.

Ms Cravero said it was important to take measures toward introducing outreach programmes so the mistakes were not repeated.

She said Thailand's response to HIV/Aids had not evolved at the same pace as the occurrence of the disease.

Despite being successful in controlling the rate of new HIV infections in the past 15-20 years, the disease was on the rise among specific groups, like drug users, said Ms Cravero.

UNAids estimates that 60% of intravenous drug users in Thailand are infected with HIV.

She praised the Justice Ministry's agreement to collaborate with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in making a rapid assessment of the HIV/Aids situation and treatment in Thai prisons, which she called "a positive sign".

However, Ms Cravero said authorities should be cautioned about the importance of respecting the rights of prisoner.

Mr Pongthep said the matter should further be discussed with the Corrections Department.

Almost half HIV infections passed between spouses  - March 9, 2004

Forty percent of new HIV infections in Thailand and other Asian countries are transmitted between man and wife, UNAids says.

Deputy executive director Kathleen Cravero said most infections among married women were not due to high-risk behaviour as 80% of women with HIV/Aids had only one sex partner.

"This reflects the fact that most women don't become HIV-infected through high-risk behaviour and certainly not through high-risk behaviour over which they have control," she told a meeting on women and Aids on International Women's Day.

She said the cultural silence about HIV/Aids in many Asian countries gave the message that good women were not curious about sex - which exacerbated the situation. She urged women's advocacy groups to devote more attention and understanding to the problems of HIV/Aids.

Patinya Phakaew, a woman living with the virus, said equal rights and access to medication - especially the universal health care scheme - was needed most. She called for better understanding rather then sympathy from society.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry yesterday announced a plan to set up a Dependable Centre in all state hospitals in the country. The centres will be one-stop offices offering free service to help women and youths physically and psychologically traumatised from rape, intimidation and attacks.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the centre will run initially in 104 hospitals.

Women activists stage rally, call for work safety, health protection: Vow not to vote for Thai Rak Thai again after being 'ignored'  - March 9, 2004

Hundreds of women activists marched down Ratchadamnoen Avenue yesterday to mark International Women's Day.

Marching from the Royal Plaza to the Democracy Monument, activists carried balloons and banners demanding better work safety and health protection, community day-care centres and a change to the social security law to help people with HIV/Aids. The protesters decided not to call on the prime minister, skipping the customary practice of submitting demands to the government, to express their disappointment with the present government.

Women leaders criticised the government's insincerity in handling women's labour problems.

The network of women's organisations, meanwhile, said more groups should take complaints from abused women.

It also wants changes to laws that infringe upon women's rights.

Thicha Na Nakhon, secretary-general of the Women and Constitution Network, said the group would step up its campaign for a law against domestic violence.

Women workers accused the government of ignoring their plight and vowed not to vote for Thai Rak Thai at the next general election.

"As the government pays little attention to us, we have decided to dump Thai Rak Thai. We will not vote for its candidates in the 2005 election," Wilaiwan sia Tia, head of the Women Labour Integration Group, told a gathering of workers at Democracy Monument.

Miss Wilaiwan said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra belittled women workers.

She said the prime minister had repeatedly refused to meet women workers over the last three years.

Workers released 500 balloons into the air to symbolise equality of women and men.

Workers also renewed their call for an end to discrimination in the workplace.

Sripot Vayupak, president of the Thai Rayon Company's labour union, said the constitution guaranteed equality of women and men, but discrimination against women workers continued.

Thai Rayon's employment regulations, for example, said women should retire at 50 while for men it was 55, which discriminates against women.

Ministry insists on continuing vaccine trials despite criticism: 16,000 to be injected over next three years - January 21, 2004

The Public Health Ministry yesterday insisted in continuing with the country's first large-scale HIV vaccine trial in Chon Buri and Rayong, despite criticism from American researchers.

Charal Trinvuthipong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said the ministry and other institutions involved remained confident in the scientific merit of the combined vaccination concept, even though the vaccines individually failed in earlier human trials.

Twenty-two of the world's leading scientists, including Robert Gallo, a co-discoverer of the Aids virus, have opposed the idea, and say the US administration was wasting $119 million by funding the study.

"There is no such thing as wasting time or budget in researching an Aids vaccine," Dr Charal argued.

The Prime-Boost HIV Vaccine is a combination of two candidate vaccines ALVAC and AIDSVAX. The first one is manufactured by the French pharmaceutical firm Aventis Pasteur and AIDSVAX is made by California-based biotechnology firm VaxGen.

The trial began late last year and aims to inject some 16,000 volunteers over the next three years.

Dr Charal said regardless of the efficacy results, Thailand was benefitting from the trial in areas like capacity building of its scientists, researchers and health personnel, and infrastructure strengthening of laboratory and specimen archiving.

"While we welcome constructive input, we find the underlying premise of the article flawed in that it uses data from efficacy trials of a single vaccine concept to predict the results of a prime-boost combination vaccine study," he said in a statement issued yesterday, referring to the comments of the 22 scientists published in the Policy Forum Public Health of Science on Friday.

"There is only one way to know if a combination of two candidate vaccines as a way of inducing both cellular and humoral immunity will protect against HIV infection and that is to do this trial," he said.

Dr Charal said both the screening and vaccine protocols of the study were reviewed and endorsed by independent bodies comprising top scientists from institutional review boards and expert committees in Thailand, the US, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations agency fighting Aids, known as the UNAids.

He said Thailand's leading researchers had an international standing and extensive experience in Aids vaccine studies.

The AIDSVAX trial, which was conducted on 2,500 recovering drug users visiting rehabilitation clinics in Bangkok in 1999, was last year declared a failure.

Prasert Thongcharoen, chairman of the Thai National Aids Commission's sub-committee on HIV Vaccine Development, said he was aware that the single candidate vaccines were  neffective individually and that is why this trial has been started to see whether their combination would work.

Dr Charal said the prime boost vaccine trial has also led to a close collaboration between non-government organisations and community groups which have jointly planned and organised activities like Aids awareness campaigns.

"Thailand intends to share knowledge and experience gained and lessons learned in conducting this large-scale community-based efficacy trial. Needless to say, if the vaccine is proven efficacious, other countries would benefit as well."

FDA confirms V-1 pill sales not legal: Claims exaggerated, licence withdrawn  - January 19, 2004

The substance V-1 Immunitor cannot be distributed or sold because it is not registered as an Aids drug or a food supplement, the Food and Drug Administration says.  

FDA secretary-general Supachai Kunaratanapruk said the agency last year revoked a licence allowing the product to be marketed and sold as a food supplement.

The FDA revoked the licence after the manufacturers placed unauthorised advertisements.

The FDA said claims of the product's properties were exaggerated.

"The backers claim the product is an Aids cure, but it does not contain any medicinal properties. If it could really cure HIV/Aids, it would have been registered as a drug and not a food supplement in the first place," he said.

Magnesium chloride was named as the main ingredient in the licence application.

He has warned consumers, particularly people with HIV/Aids, against being lured into purchasing the substance in the belief it can cure the disease.

The clinic was selling the product, which comes in the form of a pill, for 30 baht a tablet and patients were told to take it twice a day.

The licence of the Chachoengsao plant making V-1 Immunitor has been temporarily held back and a ban imposed on production.

Dr Supachai was speaking after police and health staff raided Ban Bangpakong clinic on Saturday.

The ministry said it was being run as an illegal clinic.

Thares Saengsakul, the operator, and three staff were charged with providing medical treatment and extracting blood from patients, which is allowed only at licensed clinics. They were released on bail.

Although the Public Health Ministry does not allow V-1 Immunitor here, the substance has been flooding into Asian and African countries such as Malaysia and Swaziland.

In 2001, the product's backers distributed the product widely in Thailand, with the support of the Salang Bunnag Foundation, which later parted company with the manufacturers.

Thai Immigration to hand out free condoms on arrival. Visitors to Thailand will receive free condoms from immigration officials. Wai, a stamp and a condom! - BANGKOK, JANUARY 15, 2004
 

Visitors to Thailand will receive free condoms from immigration officials if Bangkok Senator Meechai Viravaidya has his say on how the country play its role as host of the World Aids Conference in July. 

"We will seek cooperation from the Immigration Police Bureau and see if this is possible [during the conference period]," said Meechai, who is a member of the conference organising committee. 

The conference is scheduled to be held at the Impact Arena at Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi from July 11 to 16. 

Meechai said he would also ask taxi operators to ensure that condoms and audio-cassette tapes on HIV/Aids prevention were available in their cars. The cassettes will be in six languages, he said. 

"The cassettes will educate passengers about Aids while the conference is on," he said, adding that he would select only hotels with condoms in the guestrooms and staff knowledgeable about HIV/Aids prevention as accommodation for participants at the conference. 

"The hotel staff should also be able to pass on knowledge [about HIV/Aids prevention]," he said. 

The conference will bring together leading world figures in the fight against HIV/Aids for discussions on how to effectively stem the epidemic. High-profile participants will include David Beckham, Tiger Woods and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Cabinet members from Asia-Pacific countries. 

"About 20,000 people will attend this international meeting," said Disease Control Department director-general Dr Charal Trinvuthiphong. 

It has been estimated that there are about 40 million people living with HIV/Aids in the world. Of them, more than five million die of Aids every year. Africa is the most-severely-hit continent. 

In Thailand, the number of people infected by HIV is estimated at more than one million. Of them, more than 400,000 have already died. The Public Health Ministry believes there are 50,000 new infections every year.

Prophylactic proliferation  - January 15, 2004

The country will go condom crazy in July with a campaign to mark an international conference on HIV/Aids to be held in Bangkok.

Tourists arriving at Don Muang airport around the time of the conference will receive safe-sex kits after having their passports stamped at immigration.

In addition, a taped radio message will be played by taxi drivers to raise awareness of HIV/Aids. Taxis will also carry leaflets reminding passengers about the importance of condom use.

En route to their hotels, tourists may be handed more condoms by police, who will distribute the prophylactics to motorists waiting at traffic lights, or caught up in one of the city's notorious traffic jams.

After checking-in at their hotel, tourists may also find condoms placed at either the mini bar in their room, or in the toilet.

The condom campaign was planned by Mechai Viravaidya, who chaired a committee responsible for organising the July 11-16 conference.

"It is important to raise awareness, because ignorance leads to infection," he said.

Scientific progress toward formulating new prevention methods was useless without behavioural changes, he said.

Disease Control Department director-general Charal Trinvuthipong said stigma surrounding the use of condoms was a major contributing factor to an increase in the infection rate among youth.

Public Health Ministry statistics showed condom use among the young was as low as 24%, placing them at highest risk of HIV infection.

As many as 83% of the country's HIV infections were sexually transmitted.

V1-IMMUNITOR: Court rejects doctor's case for damages; Rules health officials' remarks explanat - January 8, 2004

The Supreme Administrative Court yesterday rejected a petition by a Rajavithi hospital doctor against four senior health officials, including the public health permanent secretary, over V1-Immunitor food supplement.

In her petition Dr Orapan Methadilokkul, who backed the use of V1-Immunitor as a drug for Aids patients, said her career and reputation had been damaged by the four officials, who publicly made negative comments about her V1-Immunitor research.

The four officials said at a press conference that her advertisment about the medicinal benefits of V1-Immunitor was against the law, and that she could be prosecuted if she continued to do so, said Dr Orapan.

The Food and Drug Administration did not recognise the medicinal benefits of V1-Immunitor and forced its developers to register the substance as a food supplement.

Rejecting the petition, the Supreme Administrative Court said it was not authorised to consider Dr Orapan's petition because the four officials were making explanatory statements, not issuing orders.

Pilot project promotes safe sex among at-risk groups: Campaign boosts courage and pride - January 6, 2004

Youth leaders representing risk-groups nationwide such as Hmong people, school students, slum youngsters and child labour share their views on sex education under a project sponsored by the Health Promotion Fund. - APICHART JINAKUL Growing up in a Hmong community, Lia Saelao was raised to think she must get married by the age of 16.

She changed her mind after joining a youth leaders' campaign on sex education and reproductive health nearly two years ago.

Ms Lia, now 20, is still single and selective about who will be her mate for life.

"I once thought that I could marry any guy who approached me, but not any more. Now I've learned that I need to be more choosy. Whoever I choose must be able to get along well with me, work hard and be someone I can always rely on," she said.

Ms Lia was one of 350 young people who participated in pilot health campaign projects for youth leaders in provinces such as Phayao, Chiang Rai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Bangkok, Samut Sakhon, Pattani and Yala.

Young leaders were chosen from at-risk groups including Hmong, school students, slum kids, child labourers and agricultural and fishing communities.

The project was spearheaded by the Council of Children and Youth Development Organisation, and sponsored by the Health Promotion Fund with support from other NGOs including the Foundation for Child Development, YMCA Foundation, the Family Planning Association of Thailand and the Matches Group.

It kicked off two years ago. In each area staff taught the participants about sex and reproductive health, and trained them to pass on their knowledge to friends and community members.

Nisamanee Vangvanakul, from YMCA Phayao, has worked with Hmong children in the North. In the past, many girls with unwanted pregnancies opted for abortions.

"Now with cooperation from the young leaders, such problems have decreased," said Ms Nisamanee.

CCYDO director Srisak Thai-aree said the project focussed on reproductive health because Thais still lack understanding of the issue, despite years of campaigning.

"This could be because of cultural barriers which make people feel uncomfortable talking about sex. That's why we need this kind of project," said Ms Srisak. "The world is changing, and we can't say 'no sex' to kids today. As it's hard to stop them, teaching them about safe sex is a better solution."

The working team targets strategies at different groups. They introduced a stage drama at 10 schools in Nakhon Ratchasima to teach students about gender roles and sexual violence.

Child labourers were the most difficult group to reach as they work all day at the factory. Language was also a barrier, as many were foreign workers. Ms Srisak said this group of youngsters had an unhealthy lifestyle.

"The girls working in the fish processing industry have to sit all day on a damp floor. Some do not wash their undies for days, until they get mould. Some factories don't provide toilets, so imagine the difficulty these girls have to face during their period," said Ms Srisak.

Promoting sex education among Muslim youth in the South was also challenging given the strong resistance from religious leaders who view sex and reproduction issues as taboo. But the working team refused to give up and many leaders have now lent support to the project.

For youth leaders, the campaign gives them better knowledge on reproductive health and also boosts their courage and pride.

"I used to be shy when speaking to people. Now I have more confidence.

"Many of my girlfriends are now comfortable talking about sex issues," said Masuektri Kuno, 24, a Muslim youth leader from Pattani. Masuektri and his friends have chosen community radio as a tool to spread the word. "Young people often ask me about contraceptive pills and other sex issues," said Masuektri.

Immunitor floods into Swaziland: Firm denies exporting controversial tablets  - January 4, 2004

Aids workers in one of the world's most highly infected nations are worried about an influx of the controversial Thai product Immunitor V1, touted by some as a miracle cure for HIV and Aids.

The Thai company claimed it had nothing to do with the appearance of Immunitor in Swaziland, where about 40% of citizens are infected by HIV/Aids and the government has taken few steps to fight the syndrome.

Aldar S. Bourinbaiar, the scientific director of Immunitor Corp, blamed "small traders" for buying supplies of Immunitor V1 ii Thailand and sending or taking them to Africa.

Anti-Aids activists said packets of 30 V1 tablets, identified to buyers as "HIV vaccine pills", sell for the equivalent of 3,042 baht in the local lilageni currency, more than the average take-home wage of a Swazi worker.

"Sometimes it gets there through some unbeknown to us ways," said Dr Aldar in an email interview with the Bangkok Post. "In many cases V1 is purchased in Thailand by some small traders and ends up in Africa. This was the case in Swaziland."

Immunitor was also touted as a miracle cure for Aids in Thailand, and in August, 2001, thousands of people jammed giveaways of the product, once in a football stadium. The free distributions of the tablets were the last straw for anti-Aids activists and health officials, who barred its distribution as any type of medicine.

In Swaziland, however, there is no government control on Aids programmes. Until recently, the southern African country was in deep denial as HIV and Aids spread deeply.

Now, Swaziland has the highest incidence of HIV and Aids in the world, with 40% of the population infected. Rates of new cases match the number of deaths, and UNAids said last month the country has no prevention or treatment programmes.

Swaziland also has the highest incidence of HIV infection among pregnant women - 37% according to December figures released by UNAids.

The Swaziland press quoted Aids activist Thembi Dlamini: "In the blink of an eye, it seems, Swazis have gone from deep denial of the existence of Aids to panic as they realise all the people they are burying are not dying of witchcraft. The plethora of Aids 'cures' is a product of that."

The press reports identified the source of the "miracle drug" as Sutitangwe Medical Services, located in the Swazi capital of Mbabane, and owned by two Thai nationals and a Swazi.

Neither the company nor the military regime which rules Swaziland would comment.

Dr Aldar did not comment on the role of the Swaziland firm. He said Immunitor opposed profiteering.

"Our legitimate distributors like in Africa have a very clear policy to sell at low cost, around $30 a month," he wrote. "But in other cases as in Swaziland we cannot control the price."

He said he also had written to the Swaziland Times about the story. His letter repeated arguments the company has made in Thailand that Aids victims who took Immunitor V1 exhibited an increase in white-cell blood counts.

Immunitor has seldom claimed its pills cure Aids; its fans, distributors and promoters have done so.

But the company has asserted symptoms of Aids have disappeared in patients who used the product, a claim widely and strongly disputed by many experts.

NGOs, anti-Aids experts and government officials in Thailand have dismissed Immunitor as quackery and ineffective against any Aids symptoms.

Last April, the National Food Commission claimed Immunitor products were sub-standard, with "exaggerated" effectiveness as an Aids cure. Immunitor sold V1 and other products as food supplements and avoided clashes with medical regulators.

Thailand is to host the International Aids Conference in July. Dr Aldar recently told a Bangkok website Immunitor intends to try to take part, although "if rejected we have plans B and C".

Aids patient seeks understanding Mum as New Year's present: Threw out her belongings, banned her from returning home after learning of illness - January 1, 2004

The only New Year gift 35 year-old Suay longs for is understanding and care from her mother and sister.

Suay knew she was HIV positive five years back but decided to tell her family only when she was admitted to the hospital two months ago.

"I could understand their first reaction would be filled with confusion, but I didn't expect my mother to throw away all my things," said Suay, who is being treated for haemorrhoids and tuberculosis at Bamrasnaradura hospital.

Before falling ill, she lived in a flat with her husband and a 14-year-old daughter from a previous husband. But now that tenants know she carries the virus, the room has been taken.

Her husband has gone back to stay with his parents, while her daughter stays with her mother in Samut Prakan.

Suay said she felt distressed when her daughter called and told her that her mother had put all her belongings, including her bedding and clothes, in black plastic bags and placed them outside for the garbage collectors.

"I called my mother and asked her why. I asked her what I would have left to use when I'm discharged from hospital. I also told her that I'm not dead yet and I have nowhere to stay," said Suay.

Her mother brought all her bedding and clothes back into the house for a wash, but her attitude did not change.

Suay can sense the distance the HIV virus has caused between her and her mother and sister. Her mother even told her teenage daughter, who knew she had HIV long before, not to go near her.

Suay said she understood they are not able to meet her at the hospital every week because they live far away but did not understand why she was not welcome to return home.

"Just a few days back, when I told them that I'm feeling better and that the doctor may discharge me in a few weeks, they asked me did it mean I would be returning home to stay with them," she said.

Suay has decided to live with her husband and his family after being discharged. However, she was speechless when her sister told her that she should not return to her mother's home.

She had made a friend in Vachiraporn Sukthiab, a social worker from the Panyaphiwat Group, a non-government organisation supporting education for children affected by Aids. "They are the only friends I have at the moment," said Suay.

The group also visited Uan, another 35-year-old HIV positive woman with three daughters who has worked a range of jobs to support her children.

She is most worried about 6-year-old Thip and 12-year-old Hong, but feels that 15-year-old Khiao can take care of herself. Uan has tried all sorts of jobs, from driving a motorcycle taxi to working in a shop since her husband died of Aids in 1997.

She is now a construction worker. "All I wish for is a future for my children. I hope they are able to receive high education and support. I don't know how much longer I will live," said Uan.

The Public Health Ministry says Thailand has 312,429 HIV/Aids patients, of whom 21,300 are new cases reported last year.

The World Vision Suphanimit Foundation, an Aids NGO, says 85,663 children up to 15 years old have been orphaned by the virus.

It says one-tenth of all HIV/Aids cases are aged 10 to 24.

Reproductive health campaigner Mechai Viravaidya said more needs to be done to raise awareness on the disease.

Anti-Aids cocktails prepared for 50,000: Most sufferers will be given GPOVIR - December 12, 2003
 

The Public Health Ministry has prepared three cocktails of anti-Aids drugs for 50,000 people with HIV/Aids whose immunity falls below certain levels.

Most people who meet the criteria would get GPOVIR, a cocktail drug which combines three anti-retroviral drugs - D4T, 3TC and Nevirapine.

It is made locally by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation and costs about 1,200 baht a patient a month.

This drug could help protect patients from opportunistic infections for five to seven years, he said.

Charal Trinvuthiphong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, however, said about 2% of the people under the scheme were likely to suffer from severe side effects and would not be able to take the first set of drugs from the beginning.

They would get the second regimen which comprises the drugs D4T, 3TC and Efevirenz.

It costs about 4,000 baht a patient a month and 15% of the patients would get it.

The third regimen, D4T, 3TC, Indinavir and Ritronavir, would cost about 7,000 baht a patient a month. About 5% of patients would get it.

The ministry has set up a telephone hotline centre to provide details. The hotline can be reached on 02-5903323-5 and 02-5903336 during office hours.

Dr Charal said people who do not meet the criteria would not get drugs under the scheme.

The locally-made cocktail GPOVIR, the cheapest available combined drug, was not for sale on the local market.

Dr Charal urged people with HIV/Aids to measure their immunity, a first step to enrolling in the scheme.

Hospitals have 19 machines to measure CD4 cell counts. By next year, another 20 will be in place. 

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