6m condoms to be handed out in Valentine’s Day HIV drive
THE BANGKOK Metropolitan Administration (BMA) plans to distribute 6 million condoms through its 68 public-health service centres and hospitals this year, as it was predicted the city would have 2,201 new HIV cases – 55 per cent of which would affect people under the age of 25.
BMA deputy governor Thaweesak Lertprapan yesterday said the BMA estimated it would have 77,555 people living with HIV – the virus which causes Aids – this year, of whom 59,118 were aware of being HIV-positive. Among this group, 48,269 were already on anti-viral medicine.
Last year, there were 63,471 people living with HIV in Bangkok, of whom 33,605 were aware of the condition.
Bangkok City had 46,939 Aids patients between 1984 and October 2016 – of whom 36,870 are still alive -– with the major contributing factor being unsafe sex (80 per cent), said Thaweesak.
Regarding the number of new HIV/Aids cases in Bangkok from January to October 2016, the districts of Din Daeng and Bang Kapi had the most cases at 38 and 30 respectively.
As previous surveys suggested, many teenagers have sex with boyfriends or girlfriends on Valentine’s Day in an expression of “love”, said Thaweesak. This could lead to pregnancy and risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), he added.
The BMA will launch a “Rak Pen, Rak Plodpai” (know how to love safely) campaign at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in Pathumwan district to raise public awareness about HIV and Aids, STDs, teenage pregnancy and other sexual matters.