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| WHAT WE DO | ||
| HIV/AIDS Awareness
and Prevention PDI - PDA and HIV/AIDS Awareness and Prevention The Dark Ages HIV/AIDS has been prevalent in Thailand since 1984, though at that time, HIV/AIDS was considered a disease which affected only high risk groups such as: men having sex with men, intravenous drug users and sex workers. Additionally, government leaders were reluctant to discuss the issue. With little attention paid to this critical scenario, Thailand was heading for a full-blown disaster. Political Leadership With the alarming increase of cases reported, PDA became an anti-AIDS activist organization. It was in 1991, when the newly appointed Prime Minister, Mr. Anand Panyarachun, assumed the responsibility of tackling HIV/AIDS and created the National AIDS Committee that the denial ended. What followed was evidence that attention from leaders, prime ministers, government officials, non-governmental organizations, businesses, civil society and the community can effectively curb the epidemic’s spread. PDI - PDA played a key role in both advocacies for senior level political commitment as well as in implementing programs to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. The PDI - PDA and Condoms, Social Marketing and the Media In Thailand, a condom is society’s best friend. The interconnectedness of a massive condom distribution campaign and a reduction in the spread of HIV/AIDS is undeniable as seen in Thailand’s efforts during the early 1990s. Education was the forerunner in the acclaimed “100% Use Condom Program,” which required condom use in all sex establishments. PDI - PDA introduced creative interventions to desensitize condoms, such as massive television and radio campaigns broadcasting anti-HIV/AIDS information on prevention and compassion every hour on six television networks and 488 government radio stations. PDI - PDA delivered a nationwide information education campaign with mandatory educational training on the proper facts of AIDS to government offices, hospitals, banks, businesses and schools. More daring interventions were introduced, such as ‘Cops-n-Rubbers,’ whereby police officers distributed condoms along with their citations. Children’s songs were infused with HIV/AIDS facts; popular board games revised to include education on HIV/AIDS. Condom blowing contests became a familiar activity in many circles of Thailand. PDI - PDA also introduced a mobile anonymous HIV/AIDS testing and counseling clinic so services could be brought to the people. |
 Education through humor! Mechai protects his mobile phone with a condom With political support, PDI - PDA was able to orchestrate an anti-AIDS public education campaign which played a most significant role in bringing down the rate of new infections during the early 1990s. All segments of society became involved including religious leaders, teachers, hospitals, businesses, monks, sex workers, even drug users. ‘Mechai’ become a household name associated with condoms: a veritable AIDS Tsar. Thailand’s integrated and innovative approach to reducing HIV/AIDS cases using leadership and a multi-sectored approach proved successful. Initial reports indicated that HIV/AIDS in Thailand was decreasing. This multi-sectored approach continues today in Thailand. |
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PDI is a 501(C)(3) organization based in the United States committed to eradicating poverty worldwide
