Page 124 - Dignity and justice for all of us our voices are heard in Thailand

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Mr. Boripat Donmon
Chairman of the Thai Network of People
Living with HIV/AIDS (TNP+)
Rayong province
“People living with
HIV and AIDS in
Thailand not only
enjoy a certain level
of access to
medication, but also
have the right to
social security
benefits”
112 Dignity and Justice for All of Us
Voice
Mr. Boripat Donmon, the 44-year-old chairman of the Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS
(TNP+), describes how the status of people living with HIV in Thailand has substantially improved
over the years because society has gained a better understanding of the disease. This, he believes,
has given people living with HIV the chance to enjoy a more normal life in Thailand.
About ten years ago, HIV and AIDS were depicted as a consequence of promiscuity or drug abuse,
he reports. The media transmitted images of AIDS patients on their deathbeds, their bodies
emaciated, creating fear and disgust in society and generating discriminatory attitudes. Such
attitudes were even prevalent among the patients’ own relatives, who often shunned close contact
with them out of fear of contracting the disease themselves. People living with HIV had to stay
“underground, not daring to come out in the open, and were treated as if they were not human,”
he explains.
He sees the improvement in the living standards of HIV-infected people as a result of the 2002
National Health Security Act, an important breakthrough at the policy level, which eliminated the
restrictions on medical care offered to people living with HIV, allowing them to access public health
services under the government’s “30-baht” health care scheme. At present, people living with HIV
and AIDS in Thailand not only enjoy a certain level of access to medication but also have the right
to social security benefits. However, he notes that even though the social status and living
standards of HIV-infected people have improved, there are still a large number of restrictions and
prejudices to overcome. He calls on the government to make use of compulsory licensing of
medicines for the public, not only for HIV and AIDS but also for heart disease and cancer. “One has
to think of the life and human dignity of those who live within our country first, and not side with
international pharmaceutical corporations instead of the people. We must come out and press for
this although it is the duty of the government, not ours,” he says.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he
recommends that the United Nations increase its efforts to make medical care more accessible
for all people, especially with regards to expensive medications.
He concludes, “The UN must join us in pressing for this. They must join us in this movement.
I believe that the UN family can do this, but will they do it?”