AEGiS-Bangkok Post: Joining forces for better health: HIV/Aids has a broad impact across the community, but much of this influence can be negated. The best way to do this is through the cooperation of concerned groups, a trend which is taking hold.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Joining forces for better health: HIV/Aids has a broad impact across the community, but much of this influence can be negated. The best way to do this is through the cooperation of concerned groups, a trend which is taking hold.

Bangkok Post - Thursday, July 8, 2004
Kim Hak-Su

It may only be a small gesture towards acceptance, access and hope, but for the first time ever, the official conference bags for the XV International Aids Conference have been made by people living with HIV/Aids working under the Escap "Partners for Health" project. All profits will go directly towards supporting the government expansion of anti-retrovirals and with the aim of access for all.

Everyone in the community must participate if one is to succeed in giving hope to the lives of millions of people. Under the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, or Escap, Partners for Health project, a company has been set up that will fund hospital support, including patient follow-up and home visits, from profits made from the sale of products made by HIV positive communities throughout Thailand.

This set-up also provides the groups that supply the products with direct occupational support in the form of large orders facilitated by strategic business and marketing activities undertaken by the company. HIV positive people also staff the company itself.

Thailand is one of the approximately 40 countries that have formally announced their willingness to achieve the "3 by 5" objective.

Recent estimates show that Thailand has 100,000 Aids patients in need of treatment and there is hope that Thailand will achieve the 50% coverage by the end of next year. Local HIV positive community groups and NGOs are positive about the Thai government's strong drive towards access for all and confidence is high that Thailand will reach the "3 by 5" objective.

The World Health Organisation's "3 by 5" initiative, announced on Dec 1, 2003, World Aids Day, is a decisive move to address the lack of treatment in low and middle income countries. The initiative aims to provide, by 2005, anti-retroviral treatment to three million of the estimated six million Aids patients.

The target of 50% anti-retroviral coverage for Aids patients by the end of next year is an interim target and the first step in a global movement towards universal access. At present, only an estimated 400,000 Aids patients are receiving the life-saving drug.

The ambitious target of "3 by 5" and the drive for universal access are far beyond the capacities of any single organisation. For the initiative to be successful, national/local governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society groups must combine their resources to achieve access for all.

Innovative partnerships are being built among diverse stakeholders. Partners for Health directly supports the Thai government objective to provide antiretroviral treatment under the public health scheme to 50,000 Aids patients.

In close collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and in line with Thai government recommendations, the project trains HIV positive people to support hospital staff members in providing anti-retroviral treatment to more Aids patients.

In Nong Chok hospital, which is under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Escap project support has enabled hospital staff to double the number of patients receiving anti-retrovirals under their care.

This success has resulted in a landmark memorandum of understanding signed on May 31 between the BMA and the HIV positive community group, Centre for People and Families Affected by Aids, facilitated and witnessed by Escap. Through this MoU, the BMA formally recognised, for the first time, the contribution that people living with HIV/Aids can make to care and treatment delivery in hospitals.

Thailand has set the standard in Asia-Pacific when it comes to collaborating with HIV positive people in addressing HIV/Aids issues. Escap is proud to have added the important aspect of self-sustainability to the work which offers hope, and above, all access.

- Kim Hak-Su is executive secretary of the Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
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