A series of social, economic, and environmental changes that took place during 1980–1989 brought about the establishment of over 12,000 civil society organisations (or CSOs). These foundations, agencies, organisations, and societies set out to ensure the betterment of the public. They aim to improve the people’s quality of life, to prepare them for change, to enable them, and to help them overcome health, environmental, occupational and educational obstacles.

“Civil society organisations play a significant role in the promotion of knowledge and understanding among the public, which allows for their engagement in policies that directly affect their quality of life.”(Asian Development Bank Report 2011)

Civil society organisations have been an integral part ofin the implementation of national policies. They work directly with target groups on subjects, such as, the environment, education and health, including the issue of HIV/AIDS.

Why do we still focus on the HIV/AIDS pandemic? In 2015, the United Nations estimated that there were 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS across the globe. Among these were 1.8 million children. And 35Thirty-five million people haved died from this infectious disease.

UNAIDS, a branch of the United Nations, was specially established to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. UNAIDS’s goal is bring an end to HIV/AIDS by 2030.

Ending the HIV pandemic in Thailand is not a duty of the government, of civil society, of the private sector or of any individual, in particular. Instead, everyone in Thai society plays a part in propelling Thailand towards achieving the goal of having no new HIV cases.

In addition to the government’s healthcare programme, over 100 civil society organisations fighting against HIV/AIDS are the driving forces behind the effort to eradicate HIV/AIDS from Thailand. They serve as an important mechanism that provides support wherever the government cannot. They are also better at reaching out to groups of individuals at risk and assisting the infected more effectively. Some of these organisations are registered as philanthropic entities, such as, foundations and societies. Some of them are stiitll unregistered but functions as legally established entities with a management structure. Some are network groups representing individuals affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Over the past 25 years, civil society organisations have played a significant role in executing proactive outreach programmes. To raise awareness of HIV/AIDS– prevention among the target groups, they have distributed condoms, andor even syringes and needles, in an effort to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. They have supported hospital services designed for patients infected by or suffering from HIV/AIDS, such as one-stop centres and community-outreach mobile units. These services help the fill the gaps where the government cannot reach. Furthermore, civil society organisations have also run campaigns to promote better understanding between the infected and the non-infected, which have brought aboutencouraged co-existence and mutual respect.

Why do we need AIDS-Almost Zero?

Thailand has dealt with the HIV pandemic since 1984. The infection was especially prevalent among the working population who were the driving force behind the country’s economy. At the time, Thailand also underwentwas undergoing a significant shift from an agricultural society to that of industries and services. This, which resulted in unstable incomes for workers in the agricultural sector. The combination of these factors meant that families were heavily affected. While some people lost a significant amount of their income, some others couldn’t get a job or became jobless. Sicknesses Those afflicted with HIV/AIDS were left untreated. Soon thereafter the infectedThe infected went into hiding because they were hatedfeared and discriminated against by society at large.

Thailand places a great deal of importance on solving the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has affected the quality of life of its population. The country is also aware that without effective control of HIV/AIDS prevalence, it cannot hope to build a strong society. Therefore, there have been continuous efforts toin dealing with HIV/AIDS problems. For instance, solving HIV/AIDS problems was part of the national agenda on public policies onas early as April 4, 1991 during the Anand Panyarachun government. The agenda item stated that:

“The government shall prioritize effective control and prevention of infectious diseases, especially AIDS. It shall also collaborate with the private sector and civil society organisations to raise awareness of these diseases among the citizens, instilling in them the value that it is everyone’s duty to collectively prevent and solve these problems.”

This particular item on the national agenda effected the beginning of collaboration from every all partiesy; different entities finally came together to tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The government began allocating budgets – as well as introducing policies and measures – for research, treatment, prevention, public relations and education. Meanwhile, the civil society took charge of an important role in working proactively with the target groups, as well as sourcing funds domestically and internationally to combat the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country. As a result, the rate of new HIV/AIDS cases in Thailand has been on ain constant decline.

In 2016, Thailand succeeded in lowering the rate of mother-to-child infections to the world’s standard, which was set by the World Health Organisation or (WHO). It is Asia’s first country, and the world’s second, to have achieved this goal. Moreover, the rates of new HIV/AIDS cases across all population groups have been much reduced to the point that the goal of ending this pandemic in 2030 now seems truly possible. Nevertheless, the groups with high rates of new HIV/AIDS cases are still comprise hard-to-reach portions of the population. These groups of people at risk include homosexual menMen who Have Sex with Men (MSM), male-to-female transgender individuals, people who inject drugs, both male and female sex workers, and international labourers of certain occupations.

Statistics from 2015 indicate that 437,700 people in Thailand have contracted HIV, among these areincluding 6,900 new cases and 16,100 deaths caused by AIDS. The causes for new cases are attributed to unprotected sex, and the sharing of needles among drug users.

The work of civil society is an important national strategy because the government, through the various levels of hospitals, isare still unable to reach certain population groups.; however, Iit should be noted that civil society organisations do not rely on national budgets at all. And, about 90% of the national budgets are spent on individuals living with HIV.

The Global Fund has supported Thailand’s civil society organisations for over 14 years. The country has received more than 500 million Thai Bbaht a year from the Global Fund., Thiswhich has gone into HIV/AIDS prevention programmes and the improvement of access to testings and healthcare for the public, youth and hard-to-reach groups, the last of which are the people most at risk of HIV infections. Unfortunately, the Global Fund’s criteria for grants state that it will noton’t financially assist upper middle income countries, a category into which Thailand has recently fallenbeen promoted. Therefore, the foreign assistanceaid that these civil society organisations have relied on to combat HIV/AIDS will dwindle away within the next one to three years. They willare likely to soon lack the finances they need to continue their work.

At present, HIV/AIDS has not disappeared from Thai society. There are roughly 6,900 new cases a year due to unprotected sex andor the low rate of condom use among the sexually active. Moreover, Thai youth and adolescents are now sexually active at a much younger age and are having unprotected sex, which also leads to a large number of unplanned pregnancies. At the same time, Thailand is approaching becoming an aging society. This means that the generation that will soon reach working age will have to bear a heavy burden for a long time.

The decrease or cessation of foreign assistanceaid for HIV/AIDS prevention in Thailand means the likelihood of thelikely end of civil society’s work. Although the government has attempted to allocate budgets to support civil society organisations, they have been insufficient. Furthermore, tThe government’s bureaucratic budgetary regulations have also been an impeding factorimpediment at a time whenwhile the work of civil society must needs to continue without delay, whether it isbe community outreach, HIV prevention, HIV detection, access to treatment orand the promotion of better understanding in society.

Civil society’s capabilities are the direct result of procedural and development training by the Global Fund, following the principle of “achievability, measurability, transparency, and accountability.”

The work that has been done to put an end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is historically significant for Thailand. Over 30 civil society organisations have been central to this effort, together with businesses that have social responsibility at the very core of their operations. Together, they operate under the name AIDS-Almost Zero Committee with technical support from UNAIDS. The AIDS-Almost Zero Committee has tasked the Thai National AIDS Foundation with raising and distributing funds to a variety of HIV/AIDS–related projects. As stated above, tTo receiveing funding, these projects are required to possess a similar set of standards and goals for HIV/AIDS eradication asto those of the Global Fund, while maintaining adaptability to Thailand’s internal mechanism to ensure achievability.

Zoom Click

Through the principle of “test, treat, contain,” our objective is to reach out to the groups with high-risk behaviours, equip them with the appropriate prevention methods, and encourage them to get tested if they possibly have possibly been exposed to HIV. Should the test come back positive, early testing allows them to gain access to antivirals quicker. With effective treatment early on, the viral load will be reduced, lessening the chances of the disease developing into AIDS. In addition, the chances of these people spreading HIV will also be zero, or very close to zero, allowing the disease to be contained.

Main Projects

Each project is planned by a panel of experts with experience in HIV prevention. Each project is also equipped with transparent monitoring, reporting, and evaluation mechanisms.