Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - January 2, 1998
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi
The project, in honour of His Majesty the King on the occasion of his 72nd birthday in 1999, was initiated after His Majesty asked Ratchapracha Samasai Foundation committee members to divert their focus from helping people with leprosy to helping children orphaned by Aids.
Deputy Health Minister Teerawat Siriwanasarn said the project would include all aspects of the issue and would emphasise merging state-sponsored support which includes medical and health care, education and other social services to various needy groups by giving priority to the most affected areas.
The Ratchapracha Samasai Foundation has agreed to support the Thai Red Cross Society's project in raising funds to make AZT available to HIV-positive women so that their children can be prevented from contracting Aids.
The National Aids Commission also approved the amended National Vaccine Development Plan which will benefit the nation more than the previous plan, said Aids Division Director Viput Poolcharoen.
"Instead of waiting for foreign firms to approach Thai researchers for vaccine trials, the commission will take the initiative and approach vaccine firms and state our demands. This way we will have more bargaining power," he said.
Dr Viput said that instead of competing with each other, Thai researchers will this way be able to coordinate for the benefit of the nation.
He said the government would have to commit itself to supporting vaccine trials so that Thai researchers could get involved in scientific development of the vaccine right from the beginning of the trial.
The subcommittee on vaccine trial will meet with Aids scientists from various countries including France and the United States in February, to discuss the details of transferring research technology to Thai scientists, said Dr Viput.
The commission also principally accepted the proposal of Thailand Development and Research Institute (TDRI), which suggested a reform of the structure, administration and budget distribution of the nation's work on HIV/Aids.
According to the suggestion, the commission, set up in 1991, should include a secretary from the social sector, in addition to the current secretary from the health sector, in order to give more importance to social problems caused by Aids.
Another point of the proposal is that the Aids budget, which is currently distributed to various ministries according to their proposals, should be distributed under two umbrellas of the commission, that is social and health, said Permanent Secretary of Health Prakrom Vuthiphong.
The TDRI also suggested the setting up of an Aids committee at regional level, where representatives of various ministries pressure provincial governors to work on prevention and control of Aids, said Dr Prakrom.
Currently, such a committee exists only in one region, in the upper North.
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