Bangkok - Thai girls aged 15 to 19 will be offered 30 million free condoms next year in a bid to cut down the transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus, Deputy Public Health Minister Manite Nopamornbodi said Tuesday. Manite said that Thailand had done exceptionally well in seeking to control the spread of HIV, yet 30 Thais were still infected with the virus every day.
The condoms would be distributed via health centres across the country to encourage young women to protect themselves, he added.
About 84 per cent of infected Thais caught the virus after having sex without using a condom, the minister noted. A total of 358,260 people suffer from AIDS in Thailand; 95,983 of them have died, the ministry said.
The infection rate among girls in their late teens was twice that of boys because they did not dare refuse sex and felt awkward about demanding that a condom be used, Manite said.
A UN report published earlier this year praised the government's response HIV/AIDS in the 1990s, saying Thailand managed to arrest an epidemic that threatened to spiral out of control with "visionary leadership and implementation of evidence-informed public health strategies."
"However, after funding for basic prevention services was slashed as a result of the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s, HIV incidence subsequently increased," UNAIDS said.
"Having intensified national prevention efforts, Thailand has again succeeded in reducing HIV incidence in recent years," the report added.
Manite told the Nation newspaper it was important not to become complacent about the challenges posed by the virus and that those already infected should be given sympathy and understanding.
