Treatment for AIDS in LOS?

[Ed Zeppelin]

Hi,

This has been on my mind for a while,so I was just wondering, what course of action can a Thai person take if they're HIV and have developed AIDS?

I'm no expert on the subject of AIDS, nor Thai hospitals, so does your treatment, if any, depend on how much money you can afford.

I believe that in the West, the latest drugs can keep fullblown AIDS under control but these are extremely exspensive.

I see South Africa has recently been fighting the major drug companies in court over the right to produce their own cheaper drugs and whether this could or is the case in LOS?

So then what happens to the average Thai?

What do the state hospitals have to offer and are they just able to ease the symptoms,but the end is still inevitable?

If that's the case, does that give the average HIV infected person the life expectancy of between 1-10 years or longer?

Finally, how about the bar girls who've come from some village in the middle of nowhere? Do they eventually return home to die of some "unknown" illness?

Sorry for being so morbid, but I recently read that AIDS is now the number one killer in Thailand, so it's something that's been concerning me.

[iuytrede]

AIDS medication in the west is not extremely expensive (compared to other health care costs) - very roughly about 10000 USD per year.

Most Thais cannot afford this.

Half a year ago the American government threatened they would impose trade sanctions if Thailand were to produce cheap generic AIDS drugs. At the time Thailand gave in. I don't know whether things changed after what happened in South Africa.

But it seems that so far in the third world only Brazil offers free cocktail therapy to everyone.

Money is not the only problem. Cocktail therapy requires a lot of discipline from the patient, something Thais are not famous for. Have you ever tried to make an educated Thai person take his or her antibiotics regularly?

Loss of face is another problem. "I am not afraid to die of AIDS. But I am afraid of the shame if I have AIDS."

The bar girls go home and die, but not of some "unknown" illness. AIDS is very well known in Thailand. If a 25-year old comes back to Udon Thani after working in Pattaya and she is very sick, everybody in her village will suspect she has AIDS. People will treat her accordingly.

[Guest]

Several Links below for you, but this from the World Health Organization website:

"Assessment of epidemiological situation ? Thailand

HIV prevalence in Thailand was first detected in the late-1980s. Sentinel Surveillance was started in 14 provinces in 1989 and in all 73

provinces by 1990. This included blood donors, antenatal clinic attendees, IV drug users, male STD clinic patients, and female sex workers both in brothels (direct) and in massage parlors and other places (indirect). In Bangkok, in late 1987, one percent of IV drug users were HIV positive. By the end of 1988, that rate had increased to 30 percent. Since 1988, HIV prevalence among IV drug users tested has remained between 20 and 45 percent both in and outside of Bangkok. In Bangkok, HIV prevalence among sex workers

tested (both direct and indirect combined) has ranged from 7 to 18 percent between 1990 and 1996. Since 1994, HIV prevalence in

this group has declined slightly from 13 percent to 7 percent in 1997. Outside of Bangkok, HIV prevalence among sex workers tested (both direct and indirect) increased from 5 percent to 20 percent. HIV prevalence rates are highest in the northern provinces ranging from 16 to 57 percent among direct sex workers. HIV prevalence among male STD clinic patients tested in Bangkok increased from 3 percent in 1990 to 10 percent in 1994. In 1997, 7 percent of male STD clinic patients tested in Bangkok were HIV positive. Outside of Bangkok, HIV prevalence among male STD clinic patients tested increased from 3 percent to 9 percent between 1990 and 1996. In 1997, the median rate decreased to 7 percent. Again, there is a significant north-south gradient with HIV prevalence over 40 percent among male STD clinic patients in the northern-most provinces. Among antenatal clinic attendees tested in Bangkok, HIV prevalence increased from 0.2 percent in 1990 to 2 percent in 1994. In 1997, 1 percent of antenatal clinic women tested were HIV positive. Outside of Bangkok, HIV prevalence among antenatal clinic attendees increased from no infection detected in 1990 to two percent in 1994. HIV prevalence among this group has reached as high as 10 percent in provinces in the north. The median HIV prevalence among antenatal clinic attendees, however, remained around two percent in 1997."

However you do the math, the end result = USE CONDOMS!

Here's the link:

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION WEBSITE LINK - CLICK HERE

For your search, type: HIV +Thailand

You'll need adobe acrobat to read the .pdf file

[BkkShaggy]

quote:

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Originally posted by db_sez_aloha:

Can we infer from this that Sanukers help reduce the infection rate? I'd like to think we're doing our part...

db [a very clean and hansum man]

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db,

Which part?? "Outside of Bangkok " part??

BTW, do you guys know any farang friends who got AIDS from LOS? OR who has AIDS but still go bare back?? Just want to make some more info to rationalise db's comment

[orion76]

I know of one case of a farang who died of AIDS and so did his ex BG girlfirend and her best friend all 3 in the same year...

I know another guy who has herpes and still goes exclusively bareback with Thermae girls and finds it funny when he later hears he infected another girl.

Be careful, if you use condoms the odds are in your favour but barebacking is like sky diving without a parachute.

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tired76:

I know another guy who has herpes and still goes exclusively bareback with Thermae girls and finds it funny when he later hears he infected another girl.

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Just curious as to why you haven't reported this guy to the authorities. His actions are the same as someone who goes out and commits GBH every night on an unsuspecting woman. IMHO this is a violent act and you would do all of us on the board and working girls a favour if you acted to stop this person.

[orion76]

Just picture farang walking into Lumpini Police Station to report another farang who has herpes and goes around BB... I don't think I'd be taken very seriously...

[iuytrede]

AIDS CRISIS: Cost of treatment too high for most

Without access to proven drugs, sufferers must wait and wish for 'miracle cure'

Failure to gain access to the government's HIV/Aids care and treatment programme is the main reason why low-income patients suffering from Aids repeatedly pin their hopes on the discovery of a "miracle cure".

Twenty-six-year-old Sombat (not his real name), who contracted HIV six years ago, said that since he was diagnosed with the deadly virus, his income has been eroded by his rising medical bills. He spends thousands of baht per month on medication just to treat complications arising from the disease, and this does not include the cost of antiviral drugs, which he said a doctor recently refused to prescribe him.

"He simply told me that antiviral drugs are reserved only for Aids patients in the last stages of the disease," he said.

In this country, infected people are prescribed anti-retroviral medicines only when their CD4 level (white blood cell count) falls to 250 or less, which indicates they are in the last stages of the illness. And they are liable to pay for these costly drugs themselves, unless they are among that rare group of people selected for the government's free Aids care pilot programme.

Otherwise they are left to their own devices and are expected to cure themselves through, for example, the use of herbal therapies.

The government programme was made available to around just 2,000 patients, many of whom were allergic to the drugs and could not stand the intense side effects, prompting them to give up the treatment. Others failed to follow the restrictive timetable of drug use, said Dr Theera Vorathanarat, a head of the Aids Division's medical service research group.

According to the Public Health Ministry's Epidimiology Division, from 1984 until October 2000, around 60,000 out of 156,309 HIV infected patients have been diagnosed with Aids symptoms, and 43,069 of those have since died.

The government programme, launched last year, is aimed at developing an HIV/Aids treatment by using anti-retroviral drugs and helping sufferers gain more access to government medical services, he said.

"In the past, we followed the American method of treating Aids. We once provided Aids patients free AZT (Zidovudine) a few years after the US invented it. But we stopped that therapy once the virus was found to be drug resistant," Theera said.

"The anti-retroviral drugs are very high priced, have critical side effects, and have a very high chance of resistance, so use of the drugs must be given only under strict supervision and should be monitored closely by specialist doctors," he said.

"Only 19 large hospitals in the whole of Thailand are capable of providing such a service. We are now expanding this to cover more areas" he added.

The triple regimen of anti-retroviral drugs has proved to be a highly effective therapy, but its price is so high that few people can afford it. Therefore, sufferers must use other regimens, Theera said.

"Along with taking anti-retroviral drugs, patients have to keep checking their CD4 counts at least every six months.

"It's the indicator of the drugs' effectiveness. If the CD4 level does not increase, it is time to change the drugs, but if it proves to be working then patients may be allowed to stop taking the drugs while their CD4 level continues to be monitored," he explained.

THE NATION June 18

The print edition tells you costs of anti-retroviral regimens available in Thailand:

from 9000 to 13000 Baht/month