And the Battle Against HIV/AIDS Stigma Continues...

SLUG: Thai AIDS Date: 25/11/2013 Reporter: Ron Corben INTRO The United Nations AIDS body is launching a new triple zero campaign this year zero new HIV infections, discrimination and AIDS-related deaths. But as Ron Corben reports from the recent international AIDS conference in Bangkok, discrimination and stigma are undermining progress in the Asia Pacific region. TEXT SFX MIGRANT WORKER GROUP EST AND FADE A Thai migrant worker theatre group is performing a play for workers from the Thai fishing industry to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. A lawyer with the NGO, Raks Thai Foundation, Pakpoom Sawangkhum, says information and treatment for AIDS is now more readily available for migrant workers. PAKPOOM CLIP 1 (MALE ENGLISH) Last decade ago we cannot access any area like in the factories or factory owner deny us access. But now we can come (to the factory) easier and government official understand better than in the past. SFX CONFERENCE EST AND FADE But the number of people in the region who have access to antiretrovirals, the medication which helps to keep the virus in check, remains low. And annual infection rates have remained unchanged since 2008. In Indonesia, infection rates have tripled, while in Pakistan there has been an eightfold increase. Director of UN-AIDS for the Asia Pacific region, Steve Kraus, says the fight against the AIDS epidemic is now at a critical stage. STEVE CLIP 1 (MALE ENGLISH): We know that in this region if we keep doing what we're doing we're not going to get to zero (new infections). We have to innovate. We have not seen a decline in new infections in our region in the last five years." Kraus says new ideas are badly needed. STEVE CLIP 2 (MALE ENGLISH): Our region is filled with laws that continue to criminalize same sex behaviour. Countries that continue to restrict free movements of people based on their HIV status. We need to challenge the status quo because laws, policies and

practices too often are the barriers to access to treatment that is not available and prevention programmes have not scaled up. A key UN concern is a growing incidence of HIV among men who have sex with men especially amongst the younger generation. Stefan Baral is an epidemiologist at the US-based John Hopkins University. STEFAN CLIP 1 (MALE ENGLISH): I think that really tells us that this epidemic is not going anywhere when we're seeing the youngest men that are the highest acquisition risk. It also tells us that by the time we start exploring risks at the age of 18 we've already missed the acquisition risk for a lot of these men. It really tells us about the need to do more work with adolescents." The World Health Organization (WHO) says that globally more than two million adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 are living with HIV. Thats a 33 per cent rise since 2001. Other at risk groups are transgender communities, says Laxma Narayan Tripathi, co-founder of the Asia Pacific Transgender Network. LAXMA CLIP 1 (FEMALE ENGLISH): Mostly around the region transgender live like communities. Political and commitment on things is very essential. The commitment from the UN agencies so they invest and look into the issues of transgender - this minority which is visible but yet treated as invisibles. People with HIV/AIDS, in particular those from minority groups, continue to face discrimination, stigmatization and legal sanctions. Malu Marin is the regional coordinator for the NGO Seven Sisters a regional network of seven groups involved with HIV/AIDs and sex workers across the Asia Pacific region. She says theres a lack of progressive policy to tackle the issue of discrimination and AIDSrelated deaths. MALU CLIP 1 (FEMALE ENGLISH): The same issues that remain unaddressed, especially at a time when we have gained the evidence and the knowledge that we need to stop AIDS. It demonstrates that were not getting to zero discrimination, zero infections and zero related deaths. We are getting to zero change because of zero access to funding, zero legal reforms and zero political will. Thailand is seen by many Asian countries as a leader in efforts to curb the spread of AIDS. But, out of a national population of 70 million, as many as 450,000 are infected with the virus. And of those, only 200 thousand people have access to antiretroviral medications.

Leading Thai AIDS campaigner, Mechai Viravaidya, says after early gains apathy is now the main threat to efforts against the virus. MECHAI CLIP 1 (Male, English): Our government has been asleep at the wheel. It's been sitting there - it's still in the car but asleep. When was the last time you went on the streets of Bangkok and the highways of Thailand and you saw messages on safe-sex for HIV AIDS None. And so it's time to do it again." Mechai says the future fight against HIV and AIDS should be led by young people - often the most vulnerable. MECHAI CLIP 2 (MALE ENGLISH): Unfortunately we have put the responsibility of fighting AIDS in the hands of people who have a history... rather than putting in the hands of people who have a future. So Id like to suggest that we now begin to put more attention and trust in the hands of young people the ones who have a future. For Asia Calling this is Ron Corben in Bangkok, Thailand