Thai AIDS death toll down sharply in 2005
Published on Jan 02 , 2006

The number of deaths from AIDS last year fell sharply because of much wider access to anti-retroviral drugs in Thailand, the public health ministry said Monday.

Some 1,478 people died from AIDS between January and November last year compared to 6,593 for the same period in 2004, the ministry said.

"The sharp drop is because of widespread access to anti-retroviral drugs which resulted in improvements to the lives of people living with AIDS and HIV," Thawat Suntrajarn, the Disease Control Department director said in a statement.

"The ministry has targetted a reduction in new AIDS/HIV cases to not more than16,000 in 2006," or a cut of about 10 percent, Thawat said.

There were an estimated 18,000 new AIDS/HIV cases reported in 2005, mostly among homosexuals and teenagers, he added.

Health authorities will increase their anti-AIDS campaigns for teenagers, particularly in tourist cities such as Pattaya and Phuket, stocking some 24 million condoms in 4,575 vending machines nationwide, Thawat said.

The ministry also aims to drastically reduce babies born HIV-positive. Last year, some 2,400 were born HIV-positive but this year the target is several hundred such infections.

Thailand made low-cost anti-retroviral drugs available on its national health scheme from October for the more than half a million people here living with HIV/AIDS.

The drugs, produced in Thailand, were available as part of a health scheme which allows the poor to receive hospital treatment for 30 baht (75 cents) per visit.

/Agence France-Presse

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