HIV/AIDS impact on Working Women and Men in Thailand

What is HIV/AIDS?

“HIV” stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. To understand what that means, let’s break it down:
From Aids.gov:

• H – Human :This particular virus can only infect human beings.
• I – Immunodeficiency : HIV weakens your immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. A “deficient” immune system can’t protect you.
• V – Virus : A virus can only reproduce itself by taking over a cell in the body of its host.

HIV is a lot like other viruses, including those that cause the “flu” or the common cold. But there is an important difference over time, your immune system can clear most viruses out of your body. That isn’t the case with HIV the human immune system can’t seem to get rid of it. That means that once you have HIV, you have it for life.https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/what-is-hiv-aids/

Body fluids from an HIV-infected person that can transmit HIV

-Blood

-Semen (cum)

-Pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum)

-Rectal fluids

-Vaginal fluids

-Breast milk

These body fluids must come into contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissue or be directly injected into your bloodstream (by a needle or syringe) for transmission to possibly occur. Mucous membranes are the soft, moist areas just inside the openings to your body. They can be found inside the rectum, the vagina or the opening of the penis, and the mouth.http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/what-is-hiv-aids/

State of problem

Throughout the developing world the impact of HIV on women has been significant and rising. Women are more vulnerable than men, both epidemiologically and biologically. Women are frequently less educated than men. This disparity is critical because literacy rates for women are strong predictors of infant mortality rates and fertility decisions. Discrimination against the female gender begins during the pregnancy of the mother, as manifested in the high incidence of abortion of female foetuses. Female infanticide has been on the rise in many countries. Cultural preference for sons results in preferential allocation of family resources (food, schooling, health care) to them. Girls are allotted disproportionate burden of housework, which is a detriment to their self-esteem.

Transgender populations are at greater risk for HIV infection due to a variety of factors, including proximate factors such as multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex, both anal and neo-vaginal (vagina constructed during sex reassignment surgery). More distal factors such as social exclusion, experience of abuse, stigma, including self-stigma, and discrimination may interact with direct sexual behavior to influence HIV risks.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/hiv.htm http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0077113

Program: Condom promotion and distribution to prevent HIV/AIDS

How does it work?

• Promotion. Condom promotion can be conducted in many ways, including through mass media, schools, testing centers, and targeted distribution points.3

• Distribution. Condoms may be freely distributed to target high-risk groups (as was the case in Thailand’s 100% condom program – see below) or sold at subsidized prices through the private, retail sector.

Recommendations and Concerns

The Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries report states that available data suggest that “sex education, including condom promotion, does not encourage or increase sexual activity.”http://www.givewell.org/international/technical/programs/condom-distribution

Phrabatnampu temple

Phrabatnampu temple in Lop Buri, Thailand, specializes in treating last-stage-HIV patients and it was the first organisation offering free AIDS treatment in Thailand. Alongkot Dikkapanyo, a Buddhist monk, had the idea of turning a temple into an AIDS hospice in 1990 when two young HIV-positive men came to Phrabatnampu temple. The AIDS hospice opened in 1992.

Patients are bought to the Buddhist temple by their families, who are no longer capable of looking after them or who don’t want the burden of caring for them or who fear that a family member with AIDS will bring dishonour to the family. Many patients are abandoned at the temple gates.

The temple has also become a monument for the patients who’ve died there. A museum space, in which the mummified bodies of former patients are displayed, is open to visitors, in the hope of promoting HIV awareness and the “zero new HIV infection” message.http://www.amccauley.ch/albums/phrabatnampu-temple

References

See also

Group 12

1. Likasit Sungsuwan 54148010199

2. Sasicha Deebang 54148010204

3. Pinhathai Banphet 54148010231

4. Jiranun Phasuk 54148010345

5. Panurat Auerattanasakulchai 54148010366