NGOs warn of rising HIV prevalence among some groups

Founded in 2003 and officially registered in 2006, the local NGO White Lotus Flower Association provides medical care and treatment to approximately 3,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the Kingdom.

During its 20 years of operation, the association has treated more than 17,000 patients in its clinics. These include people living with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, seeking contraception and contraceptive services, blood tests, condoms, and other related risk reduction related items. with sexual intercourse.

The clinic provides treatment to 2,787 people living with HIV/AIDS who take antiretroviral drugs daily. These people are a high-risk or vulnerable population, but 93% of them present for regular care and treatment.

“Our mission is to help prevent HIV/AIDS among high-risk groups such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people, and drug users, including intravenous drug users, all without service fees. , Executive Director of the Association.

Pearun said the figures for known HIV infections among sex workers in 2021 indicated that there were 1,100 new HIV-positive cases within the population that year, but no doubt there were additional unknown or reported cases. A non-existent case occurred.

He said that the general public, who do not do public health work and are not in contact with these marginalized groups, are unaware of the increasing epidemics among these groups, and many of people seem to think they are no longer at risk of infection. Indeed, HIV is on the rise within certain population groups in the Kingdom, but not in the general population.

“HIV prevalence is not declining, it is only increasing. However, this increase is limited to high-risk groups. On average, we find 150 to 180 new HIV cases every quarter,” said Pearun. told The Post.

HIV was first a concern among the general public 20 years ago, but now its numbers are increasing, especially among gay men, pedophiles and drug users.

Men having sex with men (MSM) is a term adopted to accurately describe the behavior of some men. According to Pearun, this group accounts for 20% of his new infections, with infections occurring due to activities in his garden, massage his parlor, steam his room, sauna and certain beer. .

“Surprisingly, when you look at female sex workers, infection rates are lower. Sex workers account for only 3.2% of new infections, and the MSM group accounts for 4.9%, with a large transgender group, but drug The user group has now reached 17%.

The drug user category includes people who use drugs intravenously and who may share needles, but also have group sex while using aphrodisiacs called poppers and have multiple partners. It also includes those who engage in unprotected sex. This is an activity that was once associated with his MSM. Primarily now also includes groups of both men and women together.

Pearun said his association has mobile testing vans that go to areas with high-risk groups of individuals and provide on-site blood testing services. If someone tests positive, they are taken to a clinic for more precise testing. If the test confirms their HIV-positive status, they are counseled and prescribed antiretroviral drugs that are effective in suppressing HIV, so that their health effects are lessened and they can infect others. less likely.

The White Lotus Flower Association provides HIV and syphilis testing, diagnosis and treatment of all sexually transmitted infections in men and women, and contraceptive services of all types, including oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices and condoms. I’m here.

Pearun has also answered several public questions claiming that taking antiretroviral drugs for a long time does not cause HIV/AIDS so that he can get married and have more children.

Pearun wanted to dispel the myth that there is a cure for HIV.

“When they take antiretroviral drugs, they improve their health, they live longer, maybe even normal lifespan. But for more than 40 years, there was no cure for HIV. Medicines can help you live longer and stay as healthy as an uninfected person, but they don’t completely cure the virus.

He said the virus is still in the body, but when patients take the drug regularly for six months to a year, the most accurate machine tests can no longer detect HIV in viral tests. If no results are detected, it means the patient is no longer able to transmit the virus to others.

He said a previous study by a group of volunteers consisting of 1,600 heterosexual couples who had one partner who had the virus but was on medication and 1,600 partners who were not infected showed that transmission was suppressed. said to have shown efficacy of the drug in When the study ended, none of the uninfected partners were determined to be infected.

Complete suppression of the virus by antiretroviral drugs allows HIV-infected people to have children without the risk of transmitting the virus to their children if the virus is in an undetectable stage during pregnancy.

The main drawback is that patients must continue to take these drugs for the rest of their lives.

Given the White Lotus Flower Association’s primary mission, this year’s World AIDS Day, held on December 1st, will always be an important event for the organizations they actively participate in.

“We wanted to raise public awareness of other White Lotus services available in addition to testing: treatment for STDs, vaccinations, and hormone services for transgender people. We have added new affordable services such as

“Our long-term plan is for the future to evolve from a non-profit NGO that relies on grants to a self-sustaining organization,” said Pearun.