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Thailand:
Sad story of neglect and discrimination
By
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi Onnucha Hutasing
Bangkok
Post, July 14, 2003
 A
Thai grandmother takes care of her granddaughter whose parents both died
of AIDS. Sankampaeng, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.
Bangkok
- The story of relatives dealing with Aids is sad and familiar. Elderly
carers are neglected, and children with Aids suffer discrimination at
school. Parents die of the disease, orphaning their children. Sometimes
children catch the disease from their parents.
Parents and carers shared their experiences at a national Aids meeting
recently.
Elderly people are less at risk of contracting the disease than other
groups, but still face physical, mental and financial problems because
they are left to take care of ill children or grandchildren orphaned by
the disease, said the Foundation on Development Works of the Elderly, an
NGO.
Elderly carers had been neglected since the anti-Aids campaign began 19
years ago, said Sawang Kaewkantha of the foundation.
A study presented at the meeting said up to 67% of people with HIV/Aids
returned to live with their parents when they were no longer able to work.
There they eventually died, leaving the burden of caring for their
children with their parents.
In Chiang Mai's San Patong district alone, 200 families have HIV/Aids.
Elderly people are forced into the role of bread-winners but few have
regular earnings, said the study conducted by Usa Khiaorod of Chiang Mai
University's Centre for Assistance of the Elderly.
Elderly people also have problems getting access to information on safe
sex. Many people believed mistakenly that the elderly did not have sex, Mr
Sawang said.
Much needed to be done to make them realise the dangers of unprotected
sex. Children orphaned by Aids were discriminated against by neighbours
and schoolmates, and some forced out of schools.
Prapai Jaiharn, who spoke for Aids patients, has Aids herself and is
mother to HIV-infected children.
She wanted the Education Ministry to ensure equality for children with
HIV, to ensure they are not deprived of a normal life.
Other parents said children who caught HIV from their parents lacked
social acceptance and some were forced to quit school.
HIV children in many areas chose not to apply for scholarships because
they were too embarrassed to report to authorities and reveal they had
HIV.
The Disease Control Department believes 300,000 Thai children are Aids
orphans, compared to 63,000 children in 1995.
Senator Mechai Viravaidya said the public should file complaints with the
Senate Speaker if they knew of cases where children with HIV/Aids suffered
discrimination.
He also urged local bodies and communities to help take care of children
with HIV.
Praphan Phanuphak, director of the Thai Red Cross Society's Aids Research
Centre, said social awareness was still a problem in controlling the
spread of the disease. ``Our society still perceives people with Aids as a
group with undesirable behaviour,'' he said.
Dr Praphan said political leaders, including Public Health Minister
Sudarat Keyuraphan and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, were not paying
enough attention.
The government's plan to expand distribution of anti-retroviral drugs to
50,000 Aids patients was fine as far as it went, but many people with the
disease still had problems getting access to the drugs, he said.
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© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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