Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - December 15, 2005
Apinya Wipatayotin
Mr Mechai was speaking at a regional meeting on South Asian media leaders' initiatives on HIV/Aids, held in Bangkok last week by the UNAIDS and the Asia-Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV/Aids (APLF).
The meeting was joined by members of print and electronic media from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, who shared their experiences about HIV/Aids reporting and barriers to reporting.
Talking about the HIV/Aids situation in Thailand, Mr Mechai said the local media had become less vigilant in the past two years, believing that a series of government campaigns launched since 1991 had resulted in a sharp decline in the number of people living with HIV/Aids in the country.
The media was making less effort to make people aware of the fact that HIV/Aids remained a serious threat. People could not rely on the government alone in the fight against HIV/Aids, and the media should play a more active role.
Mr Mechai, president of the Population and Community Development Association, said the Thai government had spent excessively on disease prevention, but made little effort to disseminate information that would help build up public awareness of HIV/Aids risks.
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