Activists urge HIV policy reversal

special report: Ministry rule ‘counters’ 2030 Aids management goal

Aids activists are urging the government to revise a new Ministry of Health policy that bars clinics operated by civil society groups from providing HIV treatments to the public.

Chayodhom Samibat, 39, a white-collar worker, said he was dismayed after learning the Public Health Ministry has begun enforcing a policy that prevents the clinics from providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatments.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, “PEP means taking medicine to prevent HIV after a possible exposure”, while PrEP is a “medicine that is taken to prevent getting HIV”.

“I was shocked,” Mr Chayodhom said, adding because he travels upcountry a lot, the rule makes it difficult for him to get PrEP pills,…