Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 15, 2004
Anjira Assavanonda
The award was given by Human Rights Watch and the Canadian HIV/Aids Legal Network at the 15th International Aids Conference.
During the government's war on drugs, which began in February 2003, many drug users have lost their lives. The network had thrown a spotlight on the country's horrific human rights' abuses in the face of violence, which had exemplified human rights' heroism, said Joanne Csete, director of the HIV/Aids Programme for Human Rights Watch.
Ralf Jurgens, executive director of the Canadian HIV/Aids Legal Network, praised the organisation for helping drug users in Thailand to get access to clean syringes and other services that have saved so many lives in other countries.
Paisarn Suwannawong, president of the Thai Drug Users Network, expressed his appreciation for the honour, but also expressed his disappointment that he was treated poorly during the opening of the conference, when he had to deliver his speech to a near-empty room.
"It has been a lonely effort here in Thailand, but it is good to receive support from our friends in international organisations," he said.
Health experts worldwide have praised Thailand's efforts to battle HIV/Aids since the country's successful condom campaign in the 1990s. However, drug users have not been included in the country's response to HIV/Aids, despite the fact that the prevalence of HIV among drug users has remained at more than 40 percent, the same level as was recorded during the 1980s. Today, there are estimated to be 250,000 intravenous drug users in Thailand.
The network, founded in 2002, is also one of only two non-governmental organisations in the world to be awarded a grant from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
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