Combating HIV/AIDS: Lessons from Thailand

Combating HIV/AIDS: Lessons from Thailand – nepalnews.com, July 14, 2011
…As a result of this four pronged attack, Thailand witnessed a dramatic reduction in risky behavior, STD consultations, and HIV infections nationwide. Condom use in brothels rose from 14 % in 1988 to above 90 % in 1997; the number of male STD patients at public clinics dropped from 220,000 per year to 20,000 per year over three years. Nepal can learn many lessons from Thailand’s successes and control its own epidemic. Academician Jeffrey A Kelley argued for HIV prevention programmes “to be relatively intensive…provide attention to change attitudes, behavioral skills”. This type of intensity requires political commitment from the highest level, something Nepal has lacked. It is not surprising that countries deemed AIDS success stories—Uganda, Thailand, and Zambia—all had top government officials place AIDS on the national agenda…