Thai govt deny drug users' needed help

New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group said in a report released in advance of World AIDS Day (Saturday) described the drug users as the hardest-hit population.

They said the failure to address the epidemic in this population violates the Constitution and international human rights obligations.

The 57-page report said the Thai government estimates that 40 to 50 percent of injection drug users are living with HIV in Thailand and that this figure virtually unchanged over the past two decades.

The report, "Deadly Denial: Barriers to HIV/AIDS Treatment for People Who Use Drugs in Thailand," pointed to routine police harassment and arrest of drug users. It said former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's 2003 controversial drug war have created an ever lasting affect on the drug users who may be afraid to seek help for fear for their life.

The report also documents how drug users face discrimination from health care workers, who continue to deny them anti-retroviral treatment.

"Thailand wants to be seen as a success story in the fight against Aids, yet it is failing to address the epidemic among the population hit hardest by HIV," said Rebecca Schleifer, advocate with the HIV/Aids and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "The Thai government has recognised that the HIV infection rate is 'unacceptably high,' and it has the expertise to address this public health emergency."

In response to drug users' advocacy, the government in 2004 rescinded a policy that explicitly denied injection drug users access to anti-retroviral treatment programs.

But activists said serious obstacles in accessing needed health care still persist as many health workers do not know or refused to follow the HIV/Aids treatment guidelines, and continue to deny antiretroviral treatment to drug users, even those in methadone treatment programs.

"An HIV diagnosis is still a death sentence for most drug users in Thailand," said Paisan Suwannawong, director of the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group. "Thailand must stop discrimination against drug users seeking health care services, or it will never meet its promise to ensure access to AIDS treatment to all who need it."

The report said drug users who do receive anti-retroviral treatment are unlikely to tell their physicians about their drug use for fear of reprisals.

"The Thai government pays lip service to its official policy, which is to treat drug users as patients rather than criminals," Paisan said.

"In reality, police collect information about drug users from health clinics, and arrest peer outreach workers outside drug treatment clinics. Dug users risk criminal charges if they seek health care services which are theirs by right," he added.

The report said Thailand's current National Aids Plan recognised the authorities' failures in combating HIV and AIDS among drug users and prisoners and promised to scale up effort to address the shortcomings.

Schleifer urged Thailand to translate its written commitments into action.

"If the authorities don't immediately address the systematic human rights violations committed against drug users by police and health care providers, the government will be contributing directly to the continued spread of HIV," she said.