- Author
- Janjaroen, Wattana S.; Suwanee Khamman
- Title
- Perinatal AIDS Mortality and Orphanhood in the Aftermath of the Successful Control of the HIV Epidemics: the Case of Thailand
- In
- AIDS, Public Policy and Child Well-Being
- Editor
- Giovanni Andrea Cornia
- Imprint
- UNICEF, 2003, p. 70
- Url
- http://www.unicef-icdc.org/research/ESP/aids/chapter7.pdf
- Abstract
"Thailand is one of the leading countries in the world that has been effective in preventing the epidemic of HIV/AIDS on the national scale. The country’s achievement of reducing the number of new HIV infections over the past decade was obvious, but infection "females from husbands" and "from mothers to children" grew gradually. It is indicated that approximately 4,000 Thai children are being infected with HIV each year. A growing number of children will be living with HIV. Most of these children will require ongoing medical treatment for their health as well as counseling support. Fewer children and their families will be able to afford education because of loss of family income due to illnesses or death from AIDS. Economic burden is more rigorous on orphaned children of school age who loss their families or relatives; and are not being provided with the traditional economic safety nets of family networks and communities. The issue of HIV/AIDS on children falls on the following two important questions, which arises from the Thailand's HIV/AIDS epidemic. First, what is the long-term socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on children in such a context? Second, what are the policy responses
from the public sector and society as a whole in a country that supposedly has successfully controlled the HIV infection? On the basis of an extensive review of the existing information, this chapter focuses on the priorities chosen by the Thai Government in the field of prevention, treatment, mitigation and control of HIV/AIDS problem on the welfare of children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS."