Thailand aims to be AIDS-free by 2033

More than 100,000 of the half-million HIV-positive population in Thailand don’t receive proper treatment, but that’s not discouraging health officials who want to eliminate AIDS from the kingdom.

Under a global initiative to stop the spread of AIDS, officials from the Thai Red Cross Society and the Ministry of Public Health announced last week an ambitious goal for defeating the disease as they prepare to host an educational event for World AIDS Day.

The 22nd Tian Song Jai, an event which educates netizens about HIV and its treatment runs Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 at The Mall Ngamwongwan in Bangken district. To encourage netizens to be aware of the disease, free blood test will be available at the event.

Somsak Attasin, the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Public Health, revealed there are approximately 500,000 HIV-positive citizens in Thailand, and 100,000 of those are not seeking for proper treatment, which means they might be spreading the disease.

Thailand is following the UNAIDS framework of “Getting to Zero,” Somsak said, which means zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero deaths. By doing so, citizens must know how to protect themselves from the disease while the newly infected must receive proper treatment to raise the chance of recovery. Somsak said Thailand is set goal to become an AIDS-free nation within 20 years, Daily News reported.



Reader Interactions

Comments

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on