Overview and challenges
Situation An estimated 600,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand, and rates are rising among young people and populations in parts of the South. Young people are becoming sexually active at an earlier age and many are not using protection. Significant numbers of young people also belong to especially high-risk groups, including injecting drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men, migrant workers and seafarers. More positively, rates of transmission of HIV from parents to children have been halved. This is largely due to the government’s impressive provision of counselling and anti-retroviral medicine (ARVs) to pregnant women nationwide. Nonetheless, at least one child gets the HIV virus from his or her mother every day. Without access to ARVs, nearly 50 per cent of HIV-infected children die before they are five years old.
Vulnerable groups, including ethnic minorities and migrants, cannot access information and services for HIV/AIDS prevention and care. There are also concerns for the children of families whose livelihoods were destroyed by the 2004 tsunami. Many such children are still out of school, are suffering from trauma and/or are living in newly formed communities where they are separated from the friends and extended family members that make up their traditional support networks. Others, particularly those who have lost primary caregivers, are in danger of being forced into sex work to replace lost household income. It is also important to address the quality of life of children affected by HIV/AIDS. Being HIV-positive is a frightening and painful experience for a young child. It is made even worse when a child is shunned by his or her community, excluded from school and cut off from friends. Because of the stigma surrounding the virus, children who are among the most in need of love and support are often those who receive the least.
Key facts
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