Lecture: History of the Early HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Thailand and Highlights of the Country's Key Contributions to Global Prevention -- by Bruce G. Weniger [handouts: "SHOW MORE" below]
The Siam
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Society, Bangkok, Thailand, 2 May 2019 Abstract: http://www.siam-society.org/lectures/1905HIV_AIDS.html
Handouts in high-resolution for zoom-in detail:
https://bit.ly/Early-Thai-HIV-AIDS-A4 (23 Mb, A4 paper size, .pdf)
https://bit.ly/Early-Thai-HIV-AIDS-LTR (23 Mb, Letter paper size, .pdf)
In early 1988, HIV exploded in Thailand in sequential waves, first among injecting drug users, followed by brothel-based female commercial sex workers (CSWs), male CSWs, and male STD-clinic patients.
The epidemic then spread into the general population represented by sentinel survey groups: military conscripts (3.7% by 1993) and pregnant women attending public antenatal-care clinics (2.3% by 1995).
After initial complacency and denial, Thailand’s willingness to publish such data helped marshal resources and target defenses against HIV, a model for neighboring states following a similar pattern.
Thailand’s key innovations contributing to the global control effort included the “100% condom-only” program in brothels, the world’s first – and to date, only – large-scale, field trial (Rayong and Chonburi) of an experimental HIV vaccine that showed any efficacy, albeit modest, in preventing HIV infection (60% in the 1st year, falling to 31% in the 3rd), and testing drugs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission and to reduce acquisition when taken in advance of risky behavior.
In recent decades, Thailand remains a model for its diverse prevention programs, its wide provision of drugs to treat existing infections and prevent new ones, and studies to improve HIV vaccines.
