Staff from the Police General Hospital take part in a World Aids Day getting to zero campaign activity in 2019 (Photo: Bangkok Post) Dr Suchada Jiamsiri, chief of the Division of AIDS andSexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) under the department said that the figure shows that young people have paid less attention to the disease andignored the use of condoms.
He said that infections among this age group havebeen a trend for several years. The highest rates have been seen among sex workersand the group of men who have sex with other men (MSM).
She said the state budget for HIV/AIDS management has beenreduced because the disease is no longer as big an issue as it once was, whileforeign funding that supported local projects to prevent HIV/AIDS has alsodeclined for similar reasons.
The National Health Security Office (NHSO) is the mainorganisation supporting policies on HIV/AIDS prevention. It provides over10 million free condoms per year, drugs to prevent disease infection andrelated tests in hospitals across Thailand.
Experts in Thailand have a strong concern about the trendamong young people that see condom the last choice to ensure safe sex.
According to Thailand’s Minister of Public Health, there areover 561,000 people living with HIV in Thailand. The government has joined a globalcommitment to end HIV/AIDS by 2030, with a target of reducing newlyinfected cases to less than 1,000 per year from the present 9,230.
As per the commitment, the number of deaths linked toHIV/AIDS should be less than 4,000 cases per year from 10,970 now.
Thailand is on track to meet the 95-95-95 Global AIDS Strategy of the United Nations, aiming to diagnose 95% of all HIV-positiveindividuals, provide antiretroviral therapy for 95% of those diagnosed andachieve viral suppression for 95% of those treated by 2025.
According to Dr Suchada, by the end of 2022, an estimated90% of people who were living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand were aware of theirstatus./.
VNA
