Abstract:
The author had conducted a comparative review of AIDS epidemics
and measures for intervention in Thailand and Japan by literature
survey through existing sources of information in both countries.
The survey was conducted in January 1999. It was found that in
Thailand, heterosexual transmission accounts for 80.68% of the
total AIDS cases while blood products account for only 0.05%.
However, in Japan, heterosexual transmission accounts for 28.6%
but blood products account for 34.3%. A number of socio-economic
and cultural factors have contributed to the AIDS epidemic in
Thailand, such as, the effects of modemization and the promotion
of Thailand as a worldwide tourist destination. However, in Japan,
the import of contaminated blood products from Europe and North
America for the treatment of hemophilia and the transitional
immigration of commercial sex workers (CSWs) and laborers from
foreign countries to Japan seem to be major factors for AIDS
epidemics. Policies for AIDS in Thailand can be described in four
phases starting from 1984 with an emphasis on campaigning for
100% condom use. Policies for AI DS in Japan place their emphasis
on the prohibition of the utilization of non-heated blood plasma and
the Seven Year Stop AIDS Plan, which started in 1994.