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25.06.09 Phuket second in new HIV/Aids cases
Source: Phuketgazette
Sex
workers in establishments like karaoke bars are at greater risk of
contracting HIV/Aids than their go-go dancing counterparts, the Phuket
Health Office says.
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PHUKET
CITY: Phuket has the second-highest per capita HIV infection rate in
Thailand, the director of the Phuket Public Health Office said
yesterday.
Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said Phuket’s infection rate
was second only to Ranong during the two-year period that ended May 31,
2009.
In the longer term, the total number of reported HIV
infection cases at public and private hospitals in Phuket between May
31, 1989 and May 31 this year is 6,397, with 1,740 deaths, Dr Pongsawas
said.
Cases among men have outnumbered cases among women by a factor of 2:1, he added.
Two-thirds
of the cases were among people aged 25-39 years. Within this range,
30-34 year olds accounted for 26.0% of the total, followed by 25-29
year olds (22.2%) and 35-39 year olds (18.2%).
The range 0-4 years accounted for just 2.2% of the total.
By
occupation, the largest number of cases were reported among casual
laborers, followed by domestic workers, the unemployed, retail vendors,
company workers, manual laborers and fishermen, respectively.
Dr
Wiwat Sitomnoch, deputy director of the Phuket Public Health Office,
said teenagers are at high-risk of contracting HIV/Aids because many
fail to use condoms during sex.
Women who sell sex but work in
venues without compulsory testing for sexually transmitted diseases are
another high-risk group, he said.
“To fight HIV in Phuket, all
related agencies have to co-ordinate, especially with regard to
educating the public about the disease and how to protect themselves
from being infected,” he said.
Dr Pongsawas noted that the high
official infection rate is very likely skewed due to demographic
factors and the way infection rates are tallied: as the number of new
cases of infection divided by the official population of the province.
Phuket’s
official population is around 315,000, but the true figure has been
estimated as high as at least double that due to the number of
unregistered residents on the island.
The true rate of infection is therefore likely to be lower than the official figure, although many HIV cases go unreported.
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