Thailand

Thailand launches UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS Campaign

UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, Anupama Rao Singh, speaking at the press conference to launch UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS in Bangkok.

By Shantha Bloemen

BANGKOK, Thailand, 25 October 2005 – “We are living in a region where HIV/AIDS is making scary inroads,” UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, Anupama Rao Singh, said at a press conference marking the launch of UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS in Thailand. “In East Asia, the epidemic is expanding faster than anywhere else in the world.”

The launch, held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok, brought a range of people – from Thai Senator Jon Ungphakorn to Rafidah Abdullah, host of the popular Malaysian television show ‘3R’ – to discuss the challenges faced by the rapid increase in AIDS in the region. Asia and the Pacific has the second highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (behind Africa).