Thailand's lessons to help local HIV/AIDS responses

A delegation of community-based organisations from Thailand and Cambodia recently visited four African countries on a learning exchange programme to look at the greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) and the role of religious bodies in local responses to the pandemic. The exchange programme brought together local leaders, people living with HIV/AIDS, religious leaders and national policy makers. It also highlighted the problems facing PWAs in Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda as well as in Thailand and Cambodia. Commenting on the project, which took delegates from the four African countries to Thailand to examine its successful multi-sectoral approaches, UNICEF's HIV/AIDS Regional Advisor, Moses Sichone told PlusNews: "When we were in Thailand, the groups committed themselves to certain actions when they got back. Now the representatives from Thailand and Cambodia have come to see what has happened since then and to get feedback on the process." Thailand has been acknowledged as having made significant progress in reducing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. "They have a committed leadership, they've strived for 100 percent condom use and there has been acceptance that people living with HIV/AIDS are part and parcel of the community," Sichone added. The greater involvement of religious organisations had also made a difference. "The strong links between monks and PWAs has contributed to a more positive outlook and has dispelled a lot of stigma about the disease," he said. Despite criticisms that faith-based organisations in Africa were not doing enough in the care and support of PWAs, a "rapid evolution of thinking" was taking place among the churches. "There has been a fundamental shift...they have come aboard and are starting to play a greater role," Sichone noted. The return visit of the programme gave an opportunity for the Thai and Cambodian representatives to appreciate how local responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa had evolved. "There was a positive response from them and they acknowledged that they had learnt a lot from communities faced with such a severe epidemic," he said. The key areas that emerged from the project were the important role of religion in prevention and care and the greater involvement of PWAs in local responses to HIV/AIDS. "When there is collaboration between, and collective learning from all groups, the effectiveness of our response to HIV/AIDS is greater," a UNICEF statement said.