title: HIV/AIDS care and treatment in three provinces in northern Thailand before the national scale-up of highly-active antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: In 2003, Thailand launched a program to place 50,000 persons on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) by the end of 2004, following a series of efforts since the early 1990s to develop comprehensive HIV/AIDS care services. To evaluate existing services and needs in advance of the national HAART scale-up, in 2002 we surveyed 31 hospitals and 389 community health centers in three northern Thai provinces, and interviewed 1,015 HIV-infected patients attending outpatient clinics. All hospitals offered voluntary HIV counseling and testing, 84% provided primary prophylaxis for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, 58% for tuberculosis, 39% for cryptococcal meningitis, and 87% had some experience providing antiretroviral therapy. Community health centers provided more limited service coverage. Of patients interviewed, 63% had been diagnosed with symptomatic HIV disease, and of these, 32% reported ever receiving antiretroviral therapy; 51 % of all patients had received a CD4 T-lymphocyte count. Thailand's current national HAART scale-up is being performed in a setting of well-developed hospital-based services introduced over the course of the epidemic.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of AIDS, TB, and STls, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand. sombat@aidsthai.org
authors.forename: Sombat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thanprasertsuk
authors.forename: Cheewanan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lertpiriyasuwat
authors.forename: Tasana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leusaree
authors.forename: Petchsri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sirinirund
authors.forename: Surin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sumanapan
authors.forename: Chonlisa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chariyalertsak
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Tedd V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Ellerbrock
authors.forename: Taweesap
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Siraprapasiri
authors.forename: Chiraporn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yachompoo
authors.forename: Saowanee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Panputtanakul
authors.forename: Pongsri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Virapat
authors.forename: Panpaka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Supakalin
authors.forename: Kriengkrai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Srithaniviboonchai
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mock
authors.forename: Somsak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Supawitkul
authors.forename: Jordan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Tappero
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D003153:Community Health Services; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D028701:Patient Rights; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013785:Thailand