health

HEALTH: Thai Touch in HIV Care Attracts Doctors from Asia, Africa

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Oct 21 2010 (IPS) – Northern Thailand s Chiang Rai province has many charms to draw foreign visitors, from hilltribe communities dressed in colourful ethnic clothes, trips to gentle hills close to the Burmese and Lao borders, excursions to once infamous opium trails and a journey along the Mekong River.
But foreign guests from neighbouring countries like Vietnam to other nations like China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea are also being drawn to the province by a very different attraction its main provincial hospital.

These visitors, health workers for the most part, spend time at the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital to learn how Thai health workers have succeeded in reducing the spread of HIV among babies.

We show them how our team effort, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and people living with HIV, has been important to bring down the numbers, said Dr Rawiwan Hansudewechakul, chief of the hospital s paediatric department. How we train staff in community hospitals to reach out to people in distant areas has been part of this information exchange.

The Chiang Rai hospital s rise as a learning centre for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV goes back to 1997, when this health facility was chosen by the Thai government for a pilot programme to reduce the number of babies being infected.

It was a natural choice, admits Rawiwan, given that Chiang Rai, close to several of Thailand s borders with other countries, was in a belt that was severely hit by HIV in the early stages. There were funerals seen every day and people were feeling helpless, she recalled.
Related IPS Articles

By 2000, when the first foreign doctors started to arrive in Chiang Rai, the local staff had answers to questions how pregnant mothers should be cared for to reduce HIV transmission to their babies. The 55-year-old Rawiwan was among a team of researchers at the hospital who had been grappling with an equally daunting question understanding what is the natural transmission of HIV since 1991.

Such training courses are part of a broader programme that Thailand s public health ministry has put into place on the back of its success in curbing the spread of HIV. These have included a 100 percent condom-use campaign and public education initiatives, including care for those living with the disease by offering access to cheaper antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to ensure longer life.

In February this year, the ministry hosted 20 health workers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lankan and Burma for a 10-day programme in Bangkok on how to manage PMTCT.

In March, health workers from Africa, including Kenya and Uganda, were among a group of 17 who spent a week in the Thai capital to gather insights about ARV therapy.

These are all part of the South-South cooperation programme that is being promoted by the ministry of foreign affairs, said Surasak Thanisawanyangkoon, head of the international collaboration development section, at the public health ministry. Treatment and care for mothers and children with HIV is a key area.

Thai doctors are also sent to the developing countries with which we are cooperating, he told IPS. They offer knowledge on how to monitor children affected by HIV and how to develop a good surveillance system.

Few Thai public health workers convey this spirit of Thai cooperation more than Dr Krisana Kraisintu. She led researchers in efforts against many odds at the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) to locally produce a cheap, generic ARV tablet, replacing the cocktail of three drugs that people with HIV had to take previously.

Since 2002, the 58-year-old Krisana, whose struggles to produce the generic drug GPO-VIR even inspired a play, titled Cocktail , has been working in Africa to help her counterparts locally produce and distribute the cheaper generics.

Thailand s efforts in combating the spread of HIV and caring for its citizens living with the disease are reflected in the declining numbers since the first case of the pandemic was reported in 1984. The country has recorded over 1.1 million cases of HIV since the beginning of the pandemic, and 300,000 people among these have died due to AIDS.

Over a third of those infected close to 400,000 are women, for whom PMTCT has been pivotal. The percentage of HIV transmission from mother-to-child cases has dropped from 14 percent in the early 1990s in some parts of the country to less than two percent.

In 1991, the number of new HIV cases recorded was 143,000. By 2003, it had 19,000 new cases in a country of nearly 66 million people.

Thailand s ability to share its knowledge is not only because it is a middle-income country and wants to be a new global player, but because it has also done a lot to respond to the spread of HIV, said Sompong Chareonsuk, social mobilisation and partnership advisor at the Thai office of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Many African and Asian countries want to benefit from the knowledge and technical support that the Thais are offering.

Rawiwan s team of health workers in Chiang Rai is frequently singled out among these kinds of support due to their work in reducing HIV infection rates among children. We have made the virus go down for 90 percent of children, she pointed out.

 

Related Posts

PlayStation Plus Moving Away From Monthly PS4 Games

Sony has announced a key change for the future of PlayStation Plus. Sony will shift away from offering PS4 games as it looks to focus on PS5 games instead. Sony said it’s making this change as part of the evolution of PS Plus overall Come from online casino bangladesh . This isn’t starting soon, though, and will begin in January 2026.

“As we shift to PS5, PS4 games will no longer be a key benefit and will only be occasionally offered for PlayStation Plus Monthly Games and Game Catalog starting January 2026. We may still provide titles that can be playable on both PS4 and PS5 consoles after this date,” Sony said.

PS4 games that players have already redeemed from PS Plus are not affected, provided players stay subscribed to Pl…

Saquon Barkley's No-Look Hurdle Has Been Added To Madden NFL 25

In the NFL, when players pull off something special on the field, fans occasionally refer to it as a “video-game move.” But Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley took that to another level earlier this season when he evaded a defender by jumping over him while looking the other way. EA couldn’t resist adding that no-look hurdle to the latest update for Madden NFL 25, but Barkley is the only player who can use it and it’s not easy to pull off.

As part of the notes for the new Madden NFL 25 update, EA explained that the development team immediately decided to put Barkley’s “once-in-a-lifetime move” in the game by combing through hours of motion-capture footage. From there, they determined which animations could be modified to recreate Barkley’s leap, with some additional h…

Resistance 4 Was Pitched But Didn't Work Out, Says Former Insomniac Boss

According to former Insomniac Games boss Ted Price, a Resistance 4 game was pitched but ultimately wasn’t made.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Ted Price, said, “We did pitch that one. It was a wonderful concept, and in terms of timing and market opportunity, it didn’t work out.” When asked whether Resistance 3’s poor sales at the time impacted the decision to move on from the series, Price didn’t answer directly.

“Resistance 3 was intended to end that chapter of the Resistance franchise,” he explained. “With the way we ended with [protagonist] Capelli and closed a lot of loops on various smaller story items…we wanted to do that so we could have more options in the future, whether we would go ahead with more Resistance games or taking another turn.”

Star Wars- Legion Is Super Cheap For Prime Day – Plus, More Star Wars Board Game Deals

We’ve seen plenty of great Star Wars video games hit the market over the past few years, but the same is also true for Star Wars board games. Legion is one of the most popular options, pitting two players against each other in strategy battles that can run for up to three hours. It’s also one of the most expensive at $120–but for Prime Day, you can get it for just $89. Come from online casino bangladesh

That’s one of the lowest prices of the year. The base game includes 33 highly detailed miniatures, a comprehensive rulebook, and all the cards and pieces you need to dive into the complex game. The game is an easy recommendation for Star Wars fans now that it’s listed for less than $120, though we’re sure Amazon …

Elden Ring's Miyazaki Named To Time's 100 Most Influential People List For 2023

Time Magazine’s annual list of the world’s top 100 most influential people has arrived, and the list includes one person from the world of video games. From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls, lands on the list in the “Innovator” section. Come from Sports betting site VPbet

Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann profiled Miyazaki for Time, writing that Miyazaki’s games originally made him feel “miserable” because Druckmann’s character died over and over again. But Druckmann, and gamers all over the place who stick with Miyazaki’s games, may end up having a breakthrough. That’s what makes Miyazaki such a great designer, Druckmann said.

Ark- Ultimate Survivor Edition Coming To Switch in September

Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition is coming to the Nintendo Switch in September, bundling together the base game alongside several expansion packs. This includes the Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, and both Genesis parts, and will retail for $50 when it arrives on Nintendo’s hybrid gaming system.

For those players who already own Ark’s regular edition on Switch, they’ll receive a complete revamp of functionality, graphics, and optimization for the game Come from Sports betting site VPbet . Ark developer Studio Wildcard says that a third-party developer has been hired to lead the charge on this new version of Ark, which has resulted in the game’s Switch code being entirely rewritten and developed on the latest version…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *