The United Nations (UN) has declared 1 December to be World AIDS Day.

The Thammasat University Library owns many books about AIDS research, prevention, and treatment.

As the UNAIDS website explains,

• The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Communities make the difference”.
• The commemoration of World AIDS Day, which will take place on 1 December 2019, is an important opportunity to recognize the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels.
• Communities contribute to the AIDS response in many different ways. Their leadership and advocacy ensure that the response remains relevant and grounded, keeping people at the centre and leaving no one behind…
• World AIDS Day offers an important platform to highlight the role of communities at a time when reduced funding and a shrinking space for civil society are putting the sustainability of services and advocacy efforts in jeopardy. Greater mobilization of communities is urgently required to address the barriers that stop communities delivering services, including restrictions on registration and an absence of social contracting modalities. The strong advocacy role played by communities is needed more than ever to ensure that AIDS remains on the political agenda, that human rights are respected and that decision-makers and implementers are held accountable.
• UNAIDS is leading the global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

All TU students have heard about AIDS but unless they know someone personally affected, they may not be up to date in the latest progress in research about the pandemic that has killed 35 million people worldwide so far.

UNAIDS

• provides the strategic direction, advocacy, coordination and technical support needed to catalyse and connect leadership from governments, the private sector and communities to deliver life-saving HIV services. Without UNAIDS, there would be no strategic vision for the AIDS response.
• UNAIDS generates strategic information and analysis that increases the understanding of the state of the AIDS epidemic and progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels. It leads the world’s most extensive data collection on HIV epidemiology, programme coverage and finance and publishes the most authoritative and up-to-date information on the HIV epidemic—vital for an effective AIDS response. UNAIDS produces data for impact—no major report, speech or policy initiative on HIV has been launched or made without referring to data collected and released by UNAIDS.
• UNAIDS is a model for United Nations reform and is the only cosponsored Joint Programme in the United Nations system. It draws on the experience and expertise of 11 United Nations system Cosponsors and is the only United Nations entity with civil society represented on its governing body.
• UNAIDS has helped to position, shape and scale up the response to HIV like no other organization, encouraging dialogue and bringing in communities that have been left out of decision-making. Without UNAIDS, the human rights of people living with HIV would have been held back and the voice of civil society would be heard far less often.
• UNAIDS has transformed policy. UNAIDS has shaped public policy on HIV at the global, regional and national levels. It has mobilized investment for sound national policy using evidence, experience and political advocacy, built health and community systems, established legal frameworks and shaped public opinion towards creating healthy and resilient societies.

The UNAIDS Secretariat has offices in 70 countries. Its webpage for Thailand includes informative news reports, such as one from May, Recognizing the achievements of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre:

• The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre (TRC-ARC) has been at the forefront of the response to HIV since the early days of the epidemic, when its director, Dr. Praphan Phanuphak, diagnosed Thailand’s first case of HIV, in 1985. Since then, it has continued to develop and promote innovative prevention and treatment approaches, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), same-day antiretroviral therapy and key population-led health services.
• Located in Bangkok, Thailand, the TRC-ARC is an organization that sits under the umbrella of the Thai Red Cross Society. The Thai Red Cross has been a leading organization in the country’s response to HIV through projects implemented with partners and funded through the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
• Since the end of 2014, the TRC-ARC has been offering PrEP to people at higher risk of becoming infected with HIV through projects including the Princess PrEP programme, which is strongly supported by Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali. The Princess PrEP programme provides free PrEP services through community-led organizations such as the Service Workers in Group (SWING) Foundation, the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand, Mplus, CAREMAT and SISTERS. The TRC-ARC also offers members of those community groups comprehensive training on health-care provision, sustainable financing, evaluation and quality control.
• Since 2017, the TRC-ARC has also been offering same-day antiretroviral therapy to improve retention in care and adherence to treatment. People who test positive for HIV are initially prescribed a two-week supply of medicine and are then referred to other health facilities to continue their treatment.

During a visit to Thailand, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, paid tribute to the work of Mr Praphan and the TRC-ARC at an event organized by UNAIDS and attended by representatives of the Thai Ministry of Public Health, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations development partners and civil society organizations:

The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre has played a key role in developing and promoting innovative and effective prevention and treatment approaches to HIV for more than 30 years,” said Mr. Sidibé, “Its contribution expands beyond Thailand, being a catalyst for change across the Asia–Pacific region,” he said.

Dr. Praphan thanked UNAIDS for recognizing the achievements of the TRC-ARC and said its work would continue until the end of the AIDS epidemic. “I accept this recognition on behalf of all the people working with me at the Thai Red Cross and in the community to ensure that no one is left behind. We have demonstrated how science, integrated into the community level, can bring health care to the most marginalized groups of people.”

In 2017, the UNAIDS website featured a story when Thailand launched a new national strategy to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Among key quotes were comments from Apiwat Kwangkaew, Vice-Chair of The Thai Network For People Living With HIV/AIDS:

We will not reduce new HIV infections if we don’t help key populations understand that they are at risk. We need to make sure people can access key services such as HIV testing, clean needles and syringes and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Also from Patchara Benjarattanaporn, UNAIDS Country Director For Thailand:

Thailand stands out in the Asia and the Pacific region for its achievements in overcoming AIDS. In just one generation the country has gone from having the fastest growing epidemic in Asia to the slowest. This didn’t just happen. It was because of the commitment, resources and innovation that are a hallmark of Thailand’s efforts on HIV.

Another informative website, Avert.org, is a United Kingdom-based charity that provides information about HIV from an international perspective to save lives and improve the global response.

Avert.org makes many suggestions on its webpage about Thailand, specifically that more young people and key affected populations need to be reached with life-saving information in order to meet the goal of ending AIDS in Thailand by 2030.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)