11/4/07
We start the day by visiting the THAI AIDS TREATMENT ACTION GROUP (TTAG) and Karen and Ott who we had met at our Shabbat dinner. AJWS was the first funder of this organization in 2002. We learned a brief history of AIDS in
Thailand. The epicenter of AIDS in 1988 was in the north of
Thailand and there was little awareness of AIDS at that time. The epidemic started with injecting drug users and up to 40% of this group was infected in the 1
st year. Currently, 50% of injecting drug users are infected with HIV/AIDS and this group is the only one experiencing no reduction in new infections. The epidemic spread to trafficked sex workers who were made up of impoverished girls and women from very large families. Burmese girls were then brought in because the Thai were thought to be infected. They were duped into prostitution. After a long period of decline in HIV/AIDS cases, there is an increase in occurrences due primarily to a repressive abstinence based approach to dealing with HIV/AIDS. Ott is the founder of TTAG and is a former drug user and is HIV positive. (I have attached his Opening Plenary Speech at the International AIDS Conference for his full background). Today, TTAG is the leader in treatment access. TTAG advocates for ARV (anti retroviral) drug availability and to reduce the expense of these drugs. ARV drugs are brought in from
India illegally due to lack of local supply and excessive cost of the local drugs. Asked why this was done…”to save the lives of my friends”. TTAG also advocates for better policies, develops, builds and trains leaders and works to develop and train health education and harm prevention projects. These are accomplished by working with underserved areas, working more effectively with hospitals and increasing awareness of options and services available. One of the primary goals of TTAG is to assure that the group is self sufficient and working and functioning as a group, i.e. activity planning. They believe that given proper resources and opportunity, people can and will implement their own vision and develop. One of the biggest problems is the lack of involvement in service and program development. They receive no support or help from the government and therefore, change must come from the movement. The Pharma lobby in the
US keeps ARV generic drugs from being readily accessible and affordable. It’s the same story…money and corruption as is found around the world. Self determination is the most sustainable response to this situation where in
Thailand alone, 660,000 are living with HIV/AIDS and 550,000 have already died. This is a David and Goliath battle with the drug companies.
Former Thai Senator John Umphakorn then spoke to us from the governmental/political/social perspective. His current work deals primarily with advancing the concerns of marginalized citizens. He also spoke about the traditions of philanthropy in
Thailand which he stated were strong as relates to donations to the temples. Interestingly, but not surprising is that there is a great deal of corruption in the temples and by the monks. There is a religious hierarchy …political Buddhism as state nationalism. The local system is one of patronage and corruption and there is little political ideology. Vote buying is a common occurrence.
Once again I was very impressed by the empowerment, dedication and energy of this grassroots organization. The determination with which this group works against all odds is inspirational.
http://blog-mh.bethadam.org/__oneclick_uploads/2007/12/ott.pdf
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