Eroding gains in safe sex behavior, HIV/AIDS knowledge, and risk perceptions among royal Thai Navy conscripts after 28 years of the AIDS epidemic in Thailand

Type Journal Article - AIDS and Behavior
Title Eroding gains in safe sex behavior, HIV/AIDS knowledge, and risk perceptions among royal Thai Navy conscripts after 28 years of the AIDS epidemic in Thailand
Author(s)
Volume 18
Issue 1
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2014
Page numbers 42-49
URL http://europepmc.org/articles/pmc3808471
Abstract
The rising level of HIV infection among sex workers in Thailand during 1988–1989 led to subsequent waves of the epidemic among male clients of sex workers, their wives and partners, and their children (1). In 1993, several important preventive measures were taken that have since been credited with helping to curb the epidemic. A massive public-information campaign on AIDS was launched. Anti-AIDS messages aired every hour on the country’s 488 radio stations and 6 television networks, and every school was required to conduct AIDS education classes. The “100 percent condom program” was initiated to enforce consistent condom use in all commercial sex establishments. Condoms were distributed free to brothels, massage parlors, and sex workers, and clients were required to use them (2,3). Evidence suggests that these efforts had considerable success. Without these programs, it is estimated that Thailand’s national HIV prevalence would be 10 times higher than it is currently (4). Among both female sex workers and the general population, the national trend for prevalence of HIV infection has been in continuous decline. From 1989 to 2006, HIV prevalence declined from 33.2% to 4.6% among female sex workers, and from 2.3% to 0.9% among pregnant women. Among military conscripts—who serve as an HIV sero-surveillance sentinel because they are a large group of young males from all over the country who often have contact with sex workers—HIV prevalence increased rapidly from 0.5% in 1989 to 4.0% in 1993, then declined to 1.9% in 1998 and reached a plateau of 0.5% in 2003 (5, 6).

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