Bangkok Post - December 2, 2004

In his message delivered on the occasion of World Aids Day, UNAids executive director Peter Piot specifically drew attention to women and girls who, he said, are most vulnerable to the Aids scourge. "Today," he said, "the face of Aids is increasingly young and female. This has profound implications - we will not be able to stop the epidemic unless we put women at the heart of the response to Aids."

Dr Piot called upon governments around the world to pay more attention to the plight of their women and girls, to do the best they possibly can to prevent them from infection with HIV, and to ensure that they have access to treatment in the sad circumstance that they contract the disease. He suggested access to better education and female condoms, and the empowerment of women to own and inherit property in the belief that women who are economically self-sufficient are far less vulnerable to HIV. "Millions upon millions of lives can be saved if we can do a better job preventing HIV among women and girls".

The UNAids executive director is spot on about the threat posed to women by the deadly disease. Many women cannot even decide when and with whom they have sex, let alone successfully negotiate condom use. In India, for example, 90% of HIV-positive women are married and monogamous. Women account for 62% of infections in the 15-24 year old age group in South Asia.

Here in Thailand, although new infection cases are thankfully on the decline, the infection rate among youths is increasing. This is cause for real concern and should serve as a wake-up call for everyone concerned to step up activities to stem and then reverse this worrying trend.

Despite promises made by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to the 15th World Aids conference held in Bangkok in July to cope with the scourge of Aids, little has actually been done. For instance, the promise that anti-retroviral drugs would be covered by the 30-baht health scheme has yet to be honoured. Even more disappointing, there have been cutbacks in funding for the free condom project, putting those who cannot afford this protection at much greater risk of infection.

The lack of concern among the authorities is lamentable, but more disturbing is the seemingly growing complacency among the general population about the continuing threat of HIV/Aids. The government is partly to blame for this. It is not doing enough to focus people's attention on the disease and its deadly threat, particularly the attention of our adventurous and promiscuous young.

To begin with, a campaign is needed to educate the young on HIV/Aids and its dangers, and how to protect themselves. This is essential if the rising infection rate among the young is to be arrested. Another crucial task for the government is to resist attempts through bilateral trade agreements by some foreign-based pharmaceutical companies to extend the patents of anti-retroviral drugs.

Dr Nafis Sadik, a special envoy of the UN secretary-general on HIV/Aids, warned at a regional conference this week that Asia-Pacific societies could collapse - like some already have in Africa - if they fail to control the disease. Although Asia-Pacific is 13 years behind Africa, she said "all the conditions are in place for a general outbreak in Asia-Pacific in the next 10 years". To avoid the realisation of this prophecy here in Thailand and elsewhere, there must be no let-up in the war against HIV/Aids. There must be no complacency.

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