Thailand Wants to End the AIDS Epidemic by 2030

Thailand has launched its new 2017–2030 National AIDS Strategy, which provides a road map for ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat in the country by 2030.

19 representatives of ministries and government offices signed a commitment to end AIDS. “The government commits to ensuring enough budget for an effective HIV response. I also would like to emphasize that strong partnerships between the government, civil society, the private sector and development partners will ensure that Thailand becomes the first country in Asia to end the AIDS epidemic,” said Narong Pipatanasai, Deputy Prime Minister and Chair of the National AIDS Committee.

The plan adapts the latest global commitments to Thailand, ensuring an effective, cost-efficient and high-impact HIV response. The strategy’s goal is to further reduce new HIV infections from 6500 to less than 1000, cut AIDS-related deaths from almost 13 000 to under 4000 and reduced HIV-related discrimination in health care settings by 90% by 2030.

UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic finds that annual new HIV infections dropped by 50% in Thailand between 2010 and 2016, the steepest decline for any country in the Asia and the Pacific region. The most affected groups in the country are men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who inject drugs and sex workers. The government are planning to support combination prevention programmes for these groups as well as increase the integration of HIV health services with hepatitis C, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.