Bt230 million for Aids prevention and campaign against discrimination

Dr Amnuay Gajeena, head of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday that Bt200 million would be used to fight Aids in fiscal 2016 in collaboration with the Education and Labour ministries.

The budget would be distributed through the National Health Security Office’s scheme to support local hospitals in raising awareness of the disease, distributing condoms and lubricants, improving the Aids prevention system and upgrading the quality of healthcare services that they provide.

“The target group for our campaign will be 33,000 gay men and transsexuals, 38,000 women prostitutes and 2,600 drug addicts, which are the population group with the highest risk of HIV,” he said.

The remaining Bt30 million would be spent on the campaign to end discrimination against people with HIV and Aids management in the workplace.

“This budget will be used to expand the system of help centres for HIV-positive people who suffer discrimination, protect their rights and disseminate an accurate understanding of Aids and the human rights of people living with Aids to business owners, schools and service providers,” he said.

“We’ll also advertise to the public that HIV is just like other chronic diseases. We have to respect their rights to be treated just like the others and inform them about their rights and how to access the rights protection service,” he said.

The two ministries would issue regulations for their agencies on the treatment of HIV patients to reduce the discrimination against these people in educational institutions and the workplace, he added.