Of Thailand’s population of over 60 million, it is estimated that 440,000 people were living with HIV and that 18,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2013.1 After sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific is the region with the largest number of people living with HIV, with Thailand accounting for approximately 9%.2
Thailand has had significant success with HIV prevention. A study has shown that nearly 10 million people avoided HIV transmission because of early intervention programmes with key affected populations between 1990 and 2010.3 Between 2005 and 2013, a 56% decline in AIDS-related deaths was reported.4
However, the rate of decline is slowing down and the prevalence of HIV in key affected populations is still much higher than in the general population. Access to prevention services has improved and safer behaviours are practiced more consistently; but these need to increase significantly to reduce the rate of new infections.5