Silom Community Clinic is located in Bangkok Christian Hospital.
HIV and syphilis infections amongst gay men in Bangkok are rising, according to a report released yesterday by US and Thai health authorities.
Syphilis cases among MSM (men who have sex with men) in Bangkok more than doubled from 5% in 2005 to 12.5% in 2011, while HIV rose “significantly” from 24.5% ro 29.4% in the same period.
“These data show ongoing and increasing epidemics of HIV and syphilis infection among MSM in Bangkok,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Data for the report came from the well-known Silom Community Clinic, located in Bangkok’s gay red light area.
The clinic was founded in 2005 as a joint projected between the Thailand Ministry of Public Heath and the US Center for Disease Control, and offer free and confidential tests in an environment “receptive to the health and concerns of the MSM community.”
The data in the report was based solely on men who came to the Silom Community Clinic and asked for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) test, and thus may not be a perfect barometer for the entire gay community in Bangkok, AFP reported.
The report also noted that men who test themselves repeatedly often engage in higher levels of dangerous behavior like anal sex without a condom, so results could have trended upward.
The data, however, does emphasize “the urgent need for preventive interventions to reduce the spread of HIV and STI in this population,” the report concluded.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Toom Pitakwongyotin says
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