"400,000 Thais have HIV but don't know it" (The Nation)
[url]http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/12/18/national/national_30091258.php[/url]
[QUOTE="The Nation"][b]Red Cross urges people to take blood tests[/b]
The Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre has urged people to undergo a blood test for HIV after being warned over 400,000 Thais probably have the disease without knowing it.
"Hundreds of thousands of Thais who are infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, are unaware they are infected. This is the reason the virus is still spreading across country," the centre's director Dr Praphan Panuphak said.
He was speaking at a public hearing by the Medical Council on ways adolescents can get HIV counselling and testing services. Over 150 participants from health agencies attended the event at the Miracle Grand Convention Hotel in Bangkok.
An Aids expert explained that Acquired Immune DefiCiency Syndrome (Aids) was a set of symptoms and infections caused by damage to the immune system caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The condition progressively reduced the effectiveness of the immune system and left individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumours.
HIV is transmitted through direct contact between blood and a body fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-seminal fluid or breast milk. Transmission could involve anal, vaginal or oral sex, a blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, an exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, or other exposure to one of the above body fluids.
The first case of HIV/Aids was reported in Thailand in 1984 and the incidence of infections has increased steadily. To date 1,115,415 adults have been infected. Of this, some 585,830 people died of Aids while 532,522 adults are suffering from HIV or Aids. Some 12,787 adults and children have reportedly been infected so far this year.
The health agency estimated that about 6,800 people per day or five people per minute were infected with HIV all around the world. Of this total, 40 per cent are young adults aged 15-24 years old.
The World Health Organisation said last year that over 30.8 million people around the world had infected with HIV, while 2.1 million died during the past year. About 2.5 million new cases of HIV had been reported in 2007.
Praphan said the number of new HIV infections could be cut to 60 per cent of current levels if people tested themselves for HIV and got antiviral drugs early to fight their infection, before showing symptoms or signs of severe immune deficiency.
After working with HIV patients more than 20 years he would like to see HIV tests become a common practice in Thai society and for members of the public should drop the stigma about people with HIV and end compulsory HIV tests for employees and job applicants. However, all HIV test results must be kept confidential.
PATH organisation program adviser Dr Wachara Pumpradit said health agencies should provide HIV testing and counselling which was proper and friendly for teenagers so it is easy for them to access the treatment and prevention.
Kiratika Pangsad, from the Family Network Foundation, said parents should be apart of HIV prevention and provide proper knowledge and counselling to help their children avoid getting the deadly virus.
"We found that most parents lack understanding about the HIV infection and don't know how to tell their kids about safe sex. We want to encourage them to open their minds and learn more about sex education, as they can talk with their children [and warn them about the disease]," she said.[/QUOTE]
