Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - JulY 1, 2000
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi
Thailand's campaign to promote 100% condom use has successfully reduced HIV transmission from sex workers to male clients, but it has not worked with married partners who constituted almost half of all the new HIV infections, said Dr Tim Brown and Dr Wiwat Peerapatanapokin of Hawaii University's Population and Health Studies.
The shift in pattern of new HIV infections showed that a lot more needed to be done in encouraging pre-marital screening for HIV and promoting condom use among married couples in order to reduce new HIV cases, Dr Brown said.
He said that the 5-20% jump in new HIV infections among syringe-sharing drug users between 1990-2000 indicated an urgent need for intervention with this group, although it constituted a smaller number of the infected population.
Out of a total of 695,000 people with HIV/Aids in the country, 55,000 would develop serious illnesses and die of Aids every year, he said.
The projection shows that while HIV infection has fallen among military conscripts, the group which reflects infection rates among young Thai males, the overall infection rate remains high.
It is estimated that two percent of adult males and about one percent of adult females in the country are infected with HIV.
"The impact will fall more seriously on the workforce, for 90% of deaths caused by Aids will be in the 22-44 year age group," Dr Brown said.
Dr Brown's study indicated that most of the current HIV/Aids infections are in the 20-44 age range, with males peaking at 31 years of age and females at 26.
Out of 984,000 people who have been reported with HIV in Thailand since the start of the epidemic, 289,000 have died of Aids.
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